Arsenal have been joined by a number of English and continental rivals in eyeing a move for Reading starlet Michael Olise.
The French-born 18-year-old has been integral to Reading’s recent form, with the attacking midfielder scoring two goals and supplying three assists in just nine appearances for the Royals in the Championship this season.
He is consequently attracting interest from Arsenal, although TEAMtalk revealed a number of English giants, including London rivals Chelsea, Liverpool, Wolves, Everton and Leeds have all scouted the player.
Interest in Olise is not just confined to England, either, with clubs such as Napoli, Monaco and Borussia Dortmund also keen on procuring his services.
Olise, who can also play on either flank, spent time with Chelsea during his youth career while he also represented Manchester City before moving to Reading in 2016. He ultimately ended up signing a professional contract with the Championship side in July 2019.
Olise currently has less than 12 months running on his contract, and the Royals may look to cash in rather than lose their hot prospect for free over the summer.
Mark Bowen, his former manager at Reading, has hailed the teenager as a “massively talented player” who “can do anything in his career”.
Read Arsenal Verdict
Investing in youth is rarely a bad thing and signing the French youth international would be a real statement of intent by Mikel Arteta.
Competition for places would be fierce, however, meaning that a clear pathway to first team action may have to be developed in order to convince the youngster that he would be the beneficiary of regular game-time in north London.
Regardless, the tutelage of Arteta may prove to be an attractive prospect as the Gunners have a tendency to favour youth academy products. Academy products such as Eddie Nketiah, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Bukayo Saka featured in Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United at the weekend.
