Chelsea insist Michael Olise approach above board as they close in on double deal with Romeo Lavia

Reports have stated that Crystal Palace were unhappy over the Blues’ conduct in pursuit of their star winger
Nizaar Kinsella16 August 2023

Chelsea insist their approach for Michael Olise has been above board, following reports that Crystal Palace are unhappy over concerns the winger may have been “tapped up”.

Olise is closing in on a move to Chelsea after the Blues activated his release clause with an offer of around £35million. Crystal Palace declined to comment on the reports regarding their rumoured frustrations over the deal when contacted by Standard Sport.

Chelsea are also finalising a move for Romeo Lavia after agreeing a £53m deal, plus £5m in add-ons, for the Southampton midfielder.

Olise is expected to be out until at least the end of September with a hamstring injury, and the 21-year-old’s move will depend on him passing a medical.

His arrival would give boss Mauricio Pochettino more attacking options in midfield and see him compete with Raheem Sterling, Noni Madueke and Mykhailo Mudryk in wide positions.

Chelsea’s moves for Olise and Lavia follow their British-record £115m transfer of Moises Caicedo from Brighton earlier this week.

Stamford Bridge return: Chelsea are set to bring in Michael Olise from Crystal Palace next
Getty Images

Signing Olise and Lavia would take Chelsea’s spending under owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake to beyond £1billion and they are preparing for a player exodus in the final weeks of the transfer window in a bid to balance the books and ensure they remain compliant with Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in