Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez recently caused a stir with his comments, which subsequently put Michael Olise on the media’s radar as a potential target for the club. However, there is no truth to these rumors, at least according to an official statement from the La Liga giant.
Amid the campaign for the presidency at Real Madrid, incumbent Florentino Perez and challenger Enrique Riquelme—who had made signing Erling Haaland a priority on his agenda should he be elected—have recently been outdoing each other with promises.
In this context, there was also occasional media speculation that Michael Olise was the desired player for the new era under returning coach José Mourinho. However, the top performer at FC Bayern (15 goals and 22 assists in 32 Bundesliga matches), who also impressed with two assists for France in their World Cup opener against Senegal (3-1), is not on Real’s shopping list.
Real “regrets” the rumors surrounding Olise
The Madrid club made this clear early Saturday evening in a statement released by the club. In the statement, published on their website and shared via social media, the Royals referred to “the excellent relationship with Bayern Munich, which is marked by a long history of mutual respect, cooperation, and admiration.”
Real therefore “regrets” the rumors surrounding an alleged attempt to sign Olise and, in doing so, apologized to the Munich club. They stated that the rumors “do not correspond to reality.”
“Olise remains the chosen star,” the Madrid-based sports newspaper AS had written as recently as Thursday, further fueling the rumor mill surrounding the French star forward.
But the club, which has gone two years without a title, took a firm stance against this with its clear statement, adding: “Real Madrid would like to make it clear that there has been no direct or indirect contact with the aforementioned player, his advisors, or anyone in his inner circle.”
From Madrid’s perspective, especially in the relationship between the La Liga and Bundesliga giants, it has always been a given “that any potential interest in a player from the other club must first be clarified between the two clubs themselves.” And Real will always adhere to these unwritten rules.