Michael Olise one to watch in the transfer market – and for Didier Deschamps
Michael Olise is attracting interest from Chelsea and Manchester City after showing himself to be an exciting prospect at Crystal Palace. It’s quite rare to have an English-born player who’s eligible for France and is playing for them at youth level despite not having any experience of playing in the French club system, so it brings something new to the table in terms of the international set-up. I’m sure he’s a name Didier Deschamps is keeping an eye on, and certainly if he was to make a move to one of the big clubs, such as Chelsea, where he spent a little bit of time in his youth days, that would be an interesting development.
Still, he’s also a name who’s been occasionally linked with a Ligue 1 move. I think at some point if he becomes a full senior France international as we expect, he’s certainly a name that a number of top French clubs will look at. While he’s still at Crystal Palace, I think he’s within reach for a number of Ligue 1 clubs, but if he was to move to a bigger Premier League club like Chelsea or Manchester City I think that would probably take him out of reach for every club except PSG, so if he is on the move that will dictate his chances of a Ligue 1 club at some point in the near future. If he stays at Palace and if they struggle and end up in a relegation battle, then I think it could be one to watch for a number of Ligue 1 clubs.
Marseille showing they mean business with Sarr signing but Aubameyang is a concern
Marseille have had a good week, making two big-name signings in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ismaila Sarr. It’s certainly an interesting time at Marseille at the moment with some of these names coming in and of course the new manager Marcelino.
I think it’s encouraging to see the deal for Sarr in particular, I think that’s a good get for Marseille and one that I think could work out well. He impressed at Watford and has also done it in France before in a spell with Rennes, and I think he ended up being an alternative for Wilfried Zaha after his move to Turkey with Galatasaray.
I still think a lot will depend on what happens with Marseille trying to re-sign Alexis Sanchez. It’s looking unlikely at this moment in time, and that potentially makes the move for Aubameyang a little more risky because Marseille will really rely on him now to rediscover some form. Apart from some moments with Barcelona, we haven’t really seen the best of him for two or three years now, so it seems a bit unlikely he’s going to rediscover his best form with Marseille at this stage of his career.
So overall, I like the Sarr deal more than the Aubameyang deal, but I think mostly it would be a huge loss for Marseille if they fail to keep Alexis Sanchez, which unfortunately looks likely to be the case at this moment in time, so Marcelino has his work cut out. I think it’s a solid squad and I think they’ll be in the reckoning for Champions League qualification, and I also think it might do them well to be in the qualification rounds rather than just dropping straight into the group stages – I think they could do with that kind of warm-up on the continental stage to be ready. After that, and once the Sanchez situation is settled, I think we might see them being a little more active on the transfer front.
Coys put a bid in for mbappe we need his speed and skill.Just think of the gate receipts and income he would bring in.Go get him boys PLEASE