Real Madrid on Receiving End of Strong Michael Olise Warning

Florentino Pérez is reported to want the Frenchman as his next Galáctico.

Michael Olise has been identified as Florentino Pérez’s top target. | Alexandra BEIER/AFP/Getty Images

Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer has publicly told Real Madrid that Michael Olise is not for sale, amid widespread reports that the winger is Florentino Pérez’s top summer target.

Pérez clinched re-election as Real Madrid president on Sunday, beating challenger Enrique Riquelme with 65% of the vote. As part of his campaign, the 79-year-old promised to club-record bid of €150 million ($175 million) for a “total Galáctico” this summer, if he were to retain the presidency.

Though Pérez did not name his target, many have deduced the player in question to be Bayern’s Olise—that is despite Pérez explicitly denying it was the French winger while speaking on Spanish TV show Horizonte.

Pérez—who has lined up José Mourinho to lead the club next season as manager—has a history of bold campaign promises, most famously pledging to sign Luís Figo from Barcelona back in 2000.

Figo’s name, along with a host of others signed during Pérez’s stewardship from Zinedine Zidane to Kylian Mbappé, was displayed in campaign posters around Madrid alongside the words “to be continued”—teasing the arrival of another superstar this summer.

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Real Madrid’s Top Target Is Olise—But Bayern Won’t Play Ball

Michael Olise shone in the Champions League against Madrid. | Manu Reino/DeFodi Images/DeFodi/Getty Images

Olise has emerged as the leading contender to be Real Madrid’s next “Galáctico” signing off the back an outstanding season, in which he has scored 25 times and registered 27 assists for the Bundesliga champions.

Some reports suggest Olise captured Pérez’s attention during Madrid’s Champions League quarterfinal defeat to Bayern—during which the former Crystal Palace tormented left back Álvaro Carreras.

Interestingly, incoming manager Mourinho was in attendance for Bayern’s DFB Cup final win over Stuttgart in Berlin last month, adding to the rumors of a imminent bid.

However, Bayern aren’t prepared to give up Olise easily, with club president Herbert Hainer outright rejecting the possibility of a sale. “Michael Olise is a player for FC Bayern Munich who still has a long contract—and we are not a selling club,” he told BILD.

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Bayern’s president has shot down reports of an Olise exit. | Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images

“Should Florentino Pérez want to send us an offer—which hasn't happened so far—he can save himself the trouble.”

BILD’s report adds that Bayern’s other key decision makers including sporting directors Max Eberl and Christoph Freund also agree that Olise is “unsellable”.

Meanwhile, club legend and board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has said: “He can cast five eyes on Olise, he won't get him. He remains unsellable.

“For a player like Olise, there's no price tag that would make us flinch.”

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Could Madrid Push Through a Sale?

Florentino Pérez wants a big statement to kick off his seventh term in office. | Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press via Getty Images

The warning shots from Bayern are unlikely to be enough to stop what could fast become a transfer saga this summer.

Pérez needs to give supporters something to cheer after two disappointing seasons and will not want to risk losing face after making such a bold campaign promise. If Olise really is the target he has in his crosshairs, expect this story to run and run.

There has been no word, yet, from Olise’s camp on his level of interest in the move, which will ultimately determine how this plays out.

The 24-year-old Frenchman, who signed for Bayern for €55 million ($64 million) in the summer of 2024, remains under contract in Bavaria until 2029.

Only two players in history have been transferred for more than €150 million ($175 million): Kylian Mbappé and Neymar. However, Pérez may have to up his potential offer further still to have any chance of convincing Bayern to sell their star asset.

After such an impressive club season, a strong World Cup showing will put Olise in serious contention for this year’s Ballon d’Or—an award last won by a Real Madrid player in 2022.

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Alternative Targets

Enzo Fernández is another player who could be signed. | Chelsea FC/Getty Images

With Pérez still not publicly naming his “Galáctico” target, he has left himself wiggle room, should he need to pivot away from an Olise deal.

If the French winger does prove unsellable for Bayern, Madrid could turn to a number of other elite-level targets to substitute as the summer’s blockbuster signing to welcome in Pérez’s re-election and Mourinho’s return.

Paris Saint-Germain duo João Neves and Vitinha have both been mooted in recent weeks as a potential solution to the absence of a deep-lying creator at Madrid. As has Chelsea’s Enzo Fernández, who is available for £120 million ($160 million).

Should he choose to focus on the wings, Pérez could also target PSG’s Désiré Doué or even his teammate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia—though the latter’s left-sided preference makes him less likely.

With Madrid and Pérez, only one thing is certain: no target is too big.

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