Transfer reporter Ben Jacobs has recommended to ‘keep an eye on Liverpool’ regarding a potential move for one Premier League player in 2024.
According to ESPN, the Reds are interested in Michael Olise, with the Crystal Palace winger also being linked with Chelsea and Manchester United.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Jacobs doesn’t expect the 22-year-old to depart Selhurst Park this month but can envisage a transfer in the summer once a higher release clause becomes active.
The journalist said: “I don’t see anyone succeeding (or even necessarily trying) in signing Michael Olise this window, but there could well be a battle for his signature over the summer when a release clause, in his new contract, kicks in.
“The clause is higher than his old and complicated £35m one which Chelsea tried to trigger over the summer only to see Olise pen a new contract. It’s too early to say if Chelsea will return, but I would keep an eye on Liverpool and Manchester United.
“Olise is having a superb season so far and a summer exit from Palace could be a real possibility because he wants to play European football. The extension at Palace wasn’t necessarily signed to stay long-term so much as protect all parties and raise the release clause because the previous one was set at a bit of a bargain.”
The Palace winger has been earmarked in some quarters as a potential long-term successor to Mo Salah at Liverpool, with both players typically lining out on the right flank.
The 22-year-old has been in a rich vein of form, with four goals and an assist in his last four Premier League games, taking his tally for the season to five strikes in just 675 minutes on the pitch (one every 135 minutes).
Jacobs’ point about Olise seeking European football is pertinent, with the Eagles highly unlikely to grant him that ambition in 2024 unless they triumph in the FA Cup. That might play into Liverpool’s hands given that there’s also a possibility (albeit a much smaller one) of both United and Chelsea also missing out on Europe.
It’s been claimed that the Reds would be willing to pay as much as £60m for the Frenchman, which is quite a jump from the expiring £35m release clause that the journalist mentioned, but ideally the winger could be signed for a fee somewhere in the middle of those two figures.
Should his suitors from Manchester and west London continue to flounder, Premier League leaders LFC may well emerge as the frontrunners for the gifted Palace attacker. At least we shouldn’t have any difficulty offering him European football next season, if indeed we make our move in the summer!