Chelsea have apparently approached Crystal Palace with a verbal offer for French winger Michael Olise.
The 21-year-old was a shining light in an indifferent campaign for the Eagles last term, coming up with two goals and 11 assists in 37 Premier League games.
Olise was subsequently chosen to represent France at the recent Under-21 European Championships, but his continental campaign was cut short by a serious hamstring injury.
Olise's affliction could render him unavailable for the first few weeks of the 2023-24 season, but the former Reading attacker is nevertheless attracting glances from some of the 'Big Six' teams.
Both Chelsea and Manchester City are rumoured to be keeping a close eye on the situation, as Olise allegedly possesses a £35m release clause in his Palace contract, which runs until 2026.
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Man City are believed to have identified the winger as an ideal successor to Riyad Mahrez, who ended a trophy-laden five-year spell at the Etihad to join Al-Ahli earlier this summer.
However, Chelsea are seemingly striving to secure Olise's services for a lower fee, as RMC Sport claims that the Blues have now lodged a verbal bid of €30m (£26m).
The 21-year-old is thought to have reached an agreement in principle with Chelsea over personal terms, but the West London club are yet to make a formal offer.
The report adds that the Blues - who have been monitoring developments for a number of weeks - are waiting to receive assurances over Olise's injury before accelerating their interest.
The Frenchman previously represented both Man City and Chelsea as a schoolboy, but he failed to make the grade at both clubs before joining Reading in 2016.
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Olise quickly made his mark in Berkshire and joined Palace for a mere £8m in 2021, and he has since amassed six goals and 19 assists in 71 matches for Roy Hodgson's men in all tournaments.
Chelsea have undergone significant shake-ups in all areas of the field this summer, but Mauricio Pochettino has already overseen the arrivals of four attackers in Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Angelo Gabriel and Diego Moreira.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Union Berlin loanee David Datro Fofana have all left the club to make room for the quartet, while the agents of Hakim Ziyech, Romelu Lukaku and Callum Hudson-Odoi are working to find new clubs for their clients.
As a result, Pochettino has affirmed that he would be open to more attacking players arriving at Stamford Bridge, and Chelsea are believed to be close to a deal for Santos wonderkid Deivid Washington.
The Blues confirmed the signing of Spanish goalkeeper Robert Sanchez from Brighton & Hove Albion as their seventh arrival of the summer on Saturday, while Lesley Ugochukwu and Axel Disasi have also touched down in West London over the past few days.
Ben Knapton
