Zinedine Zidane has rarely hidden what he likes in a footballer, and Michael Olise gave him plenty to admire in Brussels on Monday. Eleven minutes after coming off the bench, Olise curled in an 88th-minute winner past Senne Lammens, with the France coach celebrating effusively on the touchline.
“He’s a pure talent. I love players like him,” Zidane told reporters after the 1-0 win over Belgium.
“When he’s on the pitch, he wants to entertain. He feels football. I’m happy to be alongside him and watch him play this way.”
Monday was Zidane’s second match in charge of France after replacing Didier Deschamps in September, and it came with Kylian Mbappé absent with a knee injury. Days earlier, Zidane’s tenure had opened with a 1-0 victory in Türkiye.
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Bayern’s answer: a deal to 2032
The endorsement lands with Bayern Munich already trying to plan around Olise’s future. His current contract runs to 2029, and the club want to move now. According to a report from Yahoo Sports, initial talks are set to begin soon on a deal that would extend his stay in Bavaria to 2032 and put him among the top earners alongside Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala.
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the Bayern supervisory board member, has publicly set the tone. He told Goal that the club owed the 24-year-old a serious conversation.
“Olise is under contract until 2029. At some point, the club will have to sit down with him and present a suitable offer. He is exceptional in his position.”
The sticking point is expected to be a release clause. Olise’s camp, led by agent Glen Tweneboah, is likely to demand one, with figures in excess of €200m mentioned as a starting point. He insisted on release clauses at Reading and Crystal Palace but did not get one when he joined Bayern.
Liverpool watching, no guarantees from Munich
Bayern’s public position on Olise’s future has shifted over the past month. Sporting director Max Eberl talked up an extension in early September but stopped short of ruling out a summer sale.
“Michael has made exceptional progress with us. We will certainly sit down at the appropriate time to discuss the way forward,” Eberl said in an interview earlier this month.
“We should know by next summer whether or not he is leaning towards an extension.”
Liverpool are the club most persistently linked with a move, keen to fill the right-wing role vacated by Mohamed Salah. Bayern have not guaranteed Olise will still be in Munich after next summer’s window, though several reports suggest the player himself leans towards La Liga rather than a return to England.
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Olise has scored eight goals and provided four assists in his first seven appearances of Bayern’s season, form that has both raised his own valuation and made Rummenigge’s “suitable offer” harder to design.
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