Chelsea have secret weapon to beat Man Utd in Michael Olise transfer race already at club

Chelsea and Manchester United are among the clubs interested in signing in-demand Michael Olise from Crystal Palace this summer, but the Blues already have one potential determining factor going in their favour.

The French winger has reportedly already agreed personal terms on a move to Stamford Bridge, with the Blues confident that they can still trigger his complex release clause and won’t have to pay more than the estimated £60million fee because they are not in the Champions League.

Enzo Maresca’s side are seemingly leading the race to sign Olise and could make the club a home to the entire family, with his brother Richard already at Stamford Bridge as an academy player.

The 19-year-old defender penned a new one-year contract at Cobham in May, with the option to extend by a further year, having joined as a nine-year-old and progressed to the Under-21 side last season under Mark Robinson.

Chelsea have already given the younger Olise brother a big show of faith, committing to his future after spending 21 months out injured, before returning to action in November as part of a friendly against sister club Strasbourg.

It remains to be seen how much of a factor joining the same club as his younger brother would impact Michael Olise’s decision, but the pair are clearly close and Richard has already credited him for instilling a love of football.

“I have basically been playing football my whole life,” Richard explained. “I started out playing Sunday league football from a very early age and then at the age of six I was scouted by Chelsea and here I am today. Specifically, though, I would say probably my older brother Michael, who now plays at Crystal Palace (was a big influence).

"I really want to improve my one-vs-one attacking. In today's game full-backs need to be able to attack and I think if I can improve that, it will help my game tremendously."

Michael Olise spent seven years with his brother at Chelsea before leaving at the age of 14 to Manchester City, then dropping down to Reading in the EFL Championship and making his way back to the Premier League with Palace.

The Telegraph claim that Chelsea are set to hold more talks in the near future with Palace over Olise. Oliver Glasner’s side would prefer a straight cash offer, but are open to exchanging players as part of the deal that could see some talented youngsters move in the opposite direction.

Bayern Munich and Newcastle have also approached Palace, but Olise could snub their interest to reunite with his brother back at Chelsea.