As Crystal Palace fans wonder who Dougie Freedman will sign to replace Michael Olise, the answer could be right under his nose.
Bayern Munich have won the race to sign the France U21 international ahead of Chelsea and Newcastle after triggering his £55m release clause, and Crystal Palace may not even have to spend a penny to replace him.
So, who could step into Michael Olise‘s boots next season? Let’s take a look…
Malcolm Ebiowei has the talent to replace Michael Olise
Dougie Freedman is no fool, and if the Glaswegian literally drives to a player’s door to collect him for his medical, he clearly believes there is a special talent to be snapped up.
That is exactly what Crystal Palace’s Director of Football did back in June 2022 – according to The Sun – as he went above and beyond to beat Manchester United to the signing of Malcolm Ebiowei on a free transfer.
Freedman was also said to have shown the 20-year-old around Crystal Palace’s facilities on a separate date before giving the winger a lift to his medical, showing a huge amount of effort which even led the Lambeth-born prodigy to ignore a text message from Erik ten Hag.
Unfortunately for Ebiowei, he struggled to displace Olise during the Patrick Vieira era, and faced the same problem under Roy Hodgson, which is nothing to be ashamed of given the 22-year-old’s immense talent.
Now, however, with the Crystal Palace No.7 close to joining Bayern Munich, we believe Oliver Glasner should give him a proper chance to step into that position on the right throughout pre-season.
20-year-old can now become a star at Crystal Palace
Stylistically, Ebiowei is just like Olise, a left-footed winger who loves to cut inside from the right flank.
The Londoner even scored a quite outrageous goal in a Premier League International Cup clash against Monaco last season, which led Hodgson to say: “Malcolm Ebiowei was outstanding. I joked with Steve Parish, ‘You’d better get your chequebook out because Monaco are going to speak to you after the game and buy him’. That’s how good he was. He was outstanding.”
That speaks volumes, given the fact the 76-year-old was often quite harsh on youngsters when speaking in the media during his time at Crystal Palace.
Furthermore, Ebiowei’s old teammate Colin Kazim-Richards even told the Filthy Fellas podcast that he believes the Crystal Palace gem is just as talented as £60m Real Madrid wonderkid Endrick, and would be held in similar regard if he had a more Brazilian-sounding name.
The 37-year-old said: “I was speaking to Malcolm the other day. He can (go all the way). If Malcolm was abroad, and he had a different name – let’s say he had a Brazilian name or he had a Colombian name – he would get bought for the same money as Endrick.”
Ebiowei is yet to actually work with Glasner, having joined John Textor’s RWD Molenbeek on loan in February just before the Austrian replaced Hodgson.
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Now, however, with Olise heading to the Allianz Arena, it could be time for 20-year-old to show exactly why Freedman made such a concerted effort to secure his signature.
The post Crystal Palace have already signed a Michael Olise replacement, he cost £0 - opinion appeared first on We are Palace.