Arsenal target Michael Olise has now overtaken Martin Odegaard in the Premier League assists charts after a 5-1 thrashing.
What’s the story?
Well, it was the Daily Mail who revealed back in January that Arsenal are monitoring the France Under-21 international.
Now, Mikel Arteta and Edu are probably even more keen to bring the Crystal Palace No.7 to the Emirates Stadium.
Olise was instrumental as the south Londoners recorded a stunning 5-1 win over Leeds at Elland Road on Sunday.
After a quiet opening 45 minutes, the 21-year-old took the game by the scruff of the neck at 1-1 to help Crystal Palace score four goals in the second half, assisting three of them.
Olise whipped in a tremendous cross for Jordan Ayew to make it 2-1 before threading a beautiful pass into Eberechi Eze to put the Eagles 3-1 ahead.
The Arsenal target then kept his cool to slide Odsonne Edouard through on goal, where the Frenchman made it 4-1 to Crystal Palace.
Impressively, Olise earned a perfect 10 rating on WhoScored for his display, which is not an easy thing to do.
He also broke a record, becoming the youngest Premier League player in history to record three assists in one game.
Olise now has eight assists in 29 Premier League appearances this season – only Kevin De Bruyne, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard have more with 14, 10 and nine respectively.
The Crystal Palace wonderkid – as aforesaid – has leapfrogged Odegaard’s tally of seven assists, while he also has more than Mohamed Salah, Christian Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes and Jack Grealish.
Arsenal will surely be desperate for Olise
A player like Olise doesn’t come around very often, and in terms of similarities to Saka, there probably isn’t a forward more alike to the England international in the Premier League.
A left footed attacker who lines up on the right flank is a rare profile – hence why Manchester United paid £86m to sign Antony from Ajax back in September.
Olise – who Crystal Palace paid just £8m for – is a real gem, and Arteta would surely be able to develop him into one of England’s best, just like he has with Gabriel Martinelli and Saka.
If the Gunners can find a way to lure the Crystal Palace prodigy to north London, Arsenal’s attack would be even more direct and dangerous.
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