Can Michael Olise rekindle an old Chelsea spark to return Bayern Munich to Bundesliga greatness?

Bayern Munich completed their latest major piece of summer business with the signing of Michael Olise from Crystal Palace on Sunday. 

The versatile French attacker — who can play on the wings or as an offensive midfielder — arrives following three stunning seasons at Selhurst Park, during which he notched 16 goals and 25 assists in 90 appearances across all competitions.

Despite being restricted due to a hamstring injury, the 2023/24 campaign was by far Olise’s most profitable for the Eagles, scoring 10 goals in just 19 Premier League appearances. With six assists also on the board, the 22-year-old was second only to Jean-Philippe Mateta (21, 16g/5a) for direct goal involvements, notching his tally in over 1,000 minutes less than the Ivorian. Among players with more than 17 appearances to their name, only Cole Palmer (1.14) managed more combined goals and assists per 90 minutes in the Premier League than Olise, whose total of 1.13 was level with Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland.

Olise joins a Bayern Munich side whose problem last season — when they finally relinquished the Bundesliga title — wasn’t really in attack. Die Roten were top of the pile in the German top flight in a number of key metrics, including goals scored (94), chances created (507), xG (86.95) and take-ons completed (481).

The likes of Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sane and Matthys Tel provided a formidable supporting cast to Harry Kane, who dropped a bucketload of goals in his debut season in Germany, while Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman also made their presence felt whenever they were fit.

That said, Bayern Munich supporters don’t know any other way than to urge their team onto the offensive at all costs. If FC Hollywood don’t have their foot to the floor in an attempt to blow the opposition away, they’re usually met with some level of backlash.

With that in mind, Olise could prove to be an incredible addition as Vincent Kompany seeks to regain Bayern’s Bundesliga crown in his first season in charge of the club. With a reported £50m price tag required to prise him away from Crystal Palace, he’ll certainly be under pressure to deliver.

Olise does, at least, have a familiar face at Bayern to help ease his transition to such a pressurised club in the form of Jamal Musiala. The pair are both products of the Chelsea youth system and shared time together at Stamford Bridge between 2011 and 2016

Musiala certainly holds Olise in very high regard, even if he hasn’t kept in touch with his old teammate since leaving Chelsea.

“We played together at Chelsea’s youth teams, it was a good time,” said Musiala, adding: “We haven’t talked much over the years, but what I can say is that he has a lot of quality. You could see that at Crystal Palace, he scored a lot of goals.”

Musiala himself mirrored Olise’s output in league play last season with 10 goals and six assists in the Bundesliga, doing so in five extra appearances. But the 21-year-old is also fresh from an excellent showing at Euro 2024, with his three goals to help Germany reach the quarter-finals the joint-highest of any player at the tournament at the time of writing.

If Musiala can help Olise hit the ground running and the two rekindle their old Chelsea spark, there may not be a team in Germany that can stop Bayern Munich from returning the Meisterschale back to its ancestral home.