Michael Olise

Michael Akpovie Olise (; ; ; ; born 12 December 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for club Bayern Munich and the France national team. Widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, he is known for his creative playmaking, tactical intelligence, dribbling, and flair.

Born in London, Olise is a product of various English academies. He made his professional debut for Championship club Reading in 2019 and won EFL Young Player of the Season in 2021. He was then signed by Premier League club Crystal Palace, where he spent three seasons and set various club and league records. He was nominated for PFA Young Player of the Year in 2024, before moving to Bayern Munich. At Bayern, Olise emerged as one of the most dominant wingers in the world. In his debut campaign, he was named Bundesliga Rookie of the Season and was nominated for the Ballon d'Or. The following year, he was named VDV Bundesliga Player of the Season and became the league's back-to-back assist leader. He has helped the club win two league titles and a DFB-Pokal.

Olise represented France at youth level and was included in their squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics, where he was top assister and received a silver medal. He made his debut for the senior French team in September 2024 and played at the 2026 FIFA World Cup where he registered a tournament-high seven assists — the most for any player in a single World Cup edition.

Early life Michael Akpovie Olise was born on 12 December 2001 in White City, London, England, and raised in the suburb of Hayes. His mother, Mina, is Franco-Algerian while his father, Vincent, is a British-Nigerian deacon who was an international cricket player for Nigeria. He has a younger brother, Richard. Raised in a tight-knit and multicultural family, all of which he regularly spent time in during childhood. Good at maths and sciences and shy and quiet, he excelled in various sports including basketball, cricket, and table tennis. In addition, he was a cross-country running champion for the London borough of Hillingdon and a district sports gold medallist in the 400 metres. Club career

Early career

At age six, Olise joined his grassroots football club Hayes & Yeading United in west London after his mother responded to an advertisement for the club in the newspaper. Olise once arrived late with his parents after getting lost and the team was losing 2–0 at halftime. When Olise turned up during the break, he scored a hat-rick helping the team win. At Chelsea, he was described as talented but challenging; he had an obsession with wearing the No 10 shirt before the line-up is finalized and at times uncooperative and disruptive if the training sessions are differently set up. He then joined Manchester City but had difficulty adjusting and left soon after.

Reading

2017–19: Rise to the first team Olise is known for combining technical precision and creative playmaking with unhurried poise and balletic elegance. His tactical intelligence and spatial awareness have been associated with his lifelong passion for chess; he produces plays no one anticipates and can create space and split defences through zugzwang.

"He is a dream come true. He doesn’t play the game, he thinks the game." — Former France Olympic coach Thierry Henry on Olise Versatile with game-changing qualities, he can be deployed as a winger or attacking midfielder. Olise possesses a range of passing skills, which he often use to play behind the opposition's defence or switch the angle of attack. A selfless player who assists as much as he scores, he likes to operate 50 to 30 yards out from goal in the right half-space, where he can use various options to continue the attack. On the ball, Olise is an agile and mobile player known for cutting inside from the right flank and using his left foot to curl the ball into the top left corner. A world-class dribbler, he is capable of turning quickly with good acceleration and change of pace, even when he is dribbling in very tight spaces or running with the ball. He employs body feints, shoulder drops, and reactionary touches to evade defenders.

Olise has stated that he is most comfortable operating in a more central role: "It's a freer role. I grew up playing as a number 10. So for me, it feels more natural." He credits the English academies he attended in his youth as well as street football for his style of play:

Since committing to represent France internationally, the English press has been "torn between fascination and regret" regarding Olise. The Telegraph lamented that "It is a failure of English football that London-born Olise now stars for France". Since his call-up to the senior team, The Times and The Guardian have noted that Olise has captivated the French people with a string of impressive performances. Le Monde has described him as a "heaven-sent prodigy" for Les Bleus. For Le Figaro, Olise is an "artist who has captured hearts", while Le Parisien labelled him the "official distributor of happiness" for his national team contributions. He is a keen chess player having been taught by his mother in childhood. He regularly plays chess "to shift the focus onto something else [other than football]". Career statistics Club

International

France score listed first, score column indicates score after each Olise goal

Honours Bayern Munich Bundesliga: 2024–25, 2025–26 DFB-Pokal: 2025–26 Franz Beckenbauer Supercup: 2025, 2026

France U23 Summer Olympics silver medal: 2024

France UEFA Nations League third place: 2024–25

Individual Ballon d’Or nominee: 2025 2025–26 Bundesliga Player of the Season: 2025–26 Bundesliga Rookie of the Season: 2024–25 2025–26 Crystal Palace Goal of the Season: 2022–23 Crystal Palace Players' Player of the Season: 2022–23 EFL Championship Team of the Season: 2020–21 EFL Championship Young Player of the Season: 2020–21 IFFHS Playmaker of the World Cup: 2026 IFFHS Team of the World Cup: 2026 London Football Awards Goal of the Season: Crystal Palace vs Luton Town PFA Team of the Year: 2020–21 Championship PFA Young Player of the Year nominee: 2023–24 VDV Bundesliga Player of the Season: 2025–26 VDV Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2024–25, 2025–26 UNFP Best French Player Playing Abroad: 2025–26

Orders

Records Most assists in a single World Cup (7): 2026 First player in history to be top assist provider in the World Cup (7), Champions League (6), and league (19) in the same season: 2025–26 Youngest Premier League player to provide three assists from open play in a single match (21 years 118 days): 2022–23