Man Utd sent major warning over deal for prime Chelsea target, as £50m star compared to Old Trafford flop

Manchester United have been told that there is significant risk in signing Michael Olise before Chelsea, as the Crystal Palace star might follow in the footsteps of an Old Trafford failure.

Olise was heavily linked with a move to Chelsea over the summer. Mauricio Pochettino’s side activated a £35million release clause in the winger’s contract, but he sensationally rejected their advances and went on to extend his deal with Palace instead. Olise’s fresh terms run until the summer of 2027, and his price tag now stands at more than £50m.

The France U21 international missed the first three months of the campaign with a hamstring injury but returned in November and once again showed his worth for the Eagles.

So far, Olise has managed five goals and one assist in nine Premier League appearances. He notched a brace to help Palace beat Brentford 3-1 in the league on December 30, though he has since picked up another hamstring issue and was left out of the squad for the recent 5-0 thrashing to Arsenal.

Despite Olise’s injury setback, his brilliant performances in the top flight have led to renewed talk about a future move away from Selhurst Park.

Chelsea remain firmly interested in landing the 22-year-old and are expected to return with another approach in the summer. Although, they will now face competition from Man Utd and Man City to complete the deal.

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On Saturday, it emerged that if Olise had the choice to join either Chelsea or Man Utd, he would opt for the latter. That is because the skilful wide man is a lifelong Man Utd supporter, despite having grown up in London.

Although, former Man Utd striker Dimitar Berbatov has urged Erik ten Hag’s side to proceed with caution. He has compared Olise to another play who swapped Palace for Man Utd, in Wilfried Zaha.

Man Utd must ‘be careful’ not to prevent Zaha repeat

“Man Utd have to be careful with transfers, and seeing the link to Michael Olise made me think about when they signed Wilf Zaha,” Berbatov said in a recent interview (via the Manchester Evening News). “Zaha came from Crystal Palace too and his spell at Man Utd was short-lived and unsuccessful.

“They need to make sure that Olise is what’s needed at the club. Is he going to help? Is he going to elevate the team in any way? It’s a sensitive situation for Man Utd so they need to be careful.

“Olise has a lot to improve on, but he has shown great quality on the pitch in his career so far. He needs the right environment and the right manager around him because if it’s not right for him then performances on the pitch will suffer.”

Zaha came through the Palace academy before moving to Man Utd in January 2013. The attacker spent the rest of the 2013-14 season back on loan in South London but failed to establish himself when he returned to Man Utd.

Zaha went on to play just four times for Man Utd’s first team, while also having a loan spell at Cardiff City.

When it became clear that the Ivorian would not make it at Old Trafford, he was sent back to Palace on loan in August 2014. That deal became permanent the following February, and the rest is history.

After failing to make the cut at Man Utd, Zaha became Palace’s talisman and ended his spell at Selhurst Park with 90 goals and 76 assists in 458 games before moving to Galatasaray last summer.

Were Olise to complete a dream switch to Man Utd, then he would be looking to prove Berbatov wrong and establish himself as a crucial player under Ten Hag.

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