Inside the boundaries of Germany, there is no doubt — Michael Olise is staying at Bayern Munich.
Outside of those lines on the map, though, it is open season. Reports coming out of Spain, England, and France all point toward the French winger being eager to make a move to Real Madrid.
Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg (as captured by @iMiaSanMia) issued a report on Thursday, which is worded purposely to say Olise is not leaving — or at least his agents have not told Bayern Munich that he wants to leave.
More importantly, it makes clear that Bayern Munich is nor going to sell the Frenchman:
As things stand, the clear info that Bayern have from Michael Olise and his agents is that the Frenchman is staying. The player’s camp did not tell the club that they want to leave. Bayern are completely relaxed following the recent reports. From the club’s perspective, Olise is not for sale this summer no matter what.
Within hours of Plettenberg dropping his report, L’Equipe (via @iMiaSanMia) issued its own news and this was far less promising and a lot more ominous:
Michael Olise wants to join Real Madrid. He no longer hides that in private and has told France teammates of his desire. Olise has had this desire to play for Real Madrid for a long time. Dayot Upamecano has been engaged in an ‘intense lobbying effort’ trying to convince Olise to stay, but the latter is determined to leave Bayern this summer and join Real Madrid.
After two successful seasons at Bayern, Olise believes that the time has come to join what he considers the world’s biggest institution. He has already asked Kylian Mbappé and Aurélien Tchouaméni about the Spanish club. Real Madrid’s management is well aware of Olise’s desire to join them. Once the World Cup is over, they will launch this operation. However, Bayern are currently not showing any willingness to negotiate.
So, what should fans believe? A tied-in journo in Germany or a publication with deep ties into the French national team? To be honest, it is tough to say because it is completely plausible that Olise could want to stay because he has it so good at Bayern Munich…or that he could want to leave to fulfill a childhood fantasy.
In a weird way, both scenarios are completely believable. Olise has a truly great thing at Bayern Munich and is in a place where could thrive for a decade. However, if he does really have that itch to play for Real Madrid (and maybe play as an attacking midfielder, too), there might not be a better )or ore lucrative) time than now to scratch it. Olise was electric for Bayern Munich last season and had a great World Cup until his final game where — ironically — Spain took him out of the game.
If Olise actually does want to capitalize on getting the biggest deal possible, now is the time. If he does want to make the move, his biggest problem will be Bayern Munich, who has no interest in selling him and is known to be a bit stubborn.
In reality, it does not matter what Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Sky Germany, or L’Equipe say, but some words from Olise would actually mean something. Players do not need to address every rumor, but this one seems like a good opportunity to just kill it — if the report from Spain, England, and France is not true.
Will he step to the plate and reveal what he actually wants or will he continue to stay silent, let this fester, and keep fans guessing? Maybe he just has nothing to say one way or the other?
One thing is for sure, the Bavarians likely will not stay silent for much longer.
Song of the Week: “Since You’re Gone” by The Cars
Hopefully, Bayern Munich fans are not singing this one about Olise in October. Anyway, some weeks are just dominated by the 80s for me and this was one of them. While we have featured The Cars here before, we have not featured “Since You’re Gone.”
The Cars were a big thing in the 80s…like massive. Released in 1982 on the “Shake It Up” album, this one probably does not get the acclaim of some other songs by The Cars. Enjoy:
Sometimes, greatest hits albums fall short of the mark, but The Cars release is a good one, too, if you are into that kind of thing.
Entertainment Rundown
House of the Dragon, Season 3, Episode 4
There was a lot to unpack from this episode, so let’s get to it:
- Again, to preface, I did not read the books, so I am just reacting to the show — I totally understand the book is far better, makes a lot more sense, and does not have all of these pesky issues that the show is experiencing.
- What you really can gather from the overarching real story of the books is just how intricate of a history George RR Martin developed for this universe. He really put an immense amount of time and thought into the finest of details.
- Aemond’s disappearance at such a key time is weird to say the least. Last we saw him, he took a dagger to the back and was begging a witch for help. We have seen the witch, Alys Rivers, but not Aemond or Vhagar (not exactly easy to hide).
- Ormund Hightower has easily becoming the most intriguing character of the season. Complex, volatile, weird…he steals every scene he is in.
- Helaena’s pregnancy was revealed in such a way that it was difficult to discern whether Alicent was distressed because she did not know that Aegon got her pregnant or that she knows it was not Aegon and is wondering who it was? Right now, unless the writers go way off the rails from GRRM’s source material, it’s just a timeline inconsistency that is annoying. So, why would Alicent be concerned if it was Aegon’s kid (which I hope it is, the incest if bad enough, but multiple incestuous relationships would be more icky)? Well, because Rhaenyra would like want to kill the baby as it would hold a claim to the throne.
- Ser Criston Cole has been a thoroughly underutilized character this season, but still remains one of the best in the show. Let’s hope he has a bigger role to play moving forward.
- Getting to know Prince Daeron also adds another interesting character into the mix. A Targaryen being raised as a Hightower certainly could provide an interesting twist to the lot.
- Overall, it was a good episode — not great. The bar is low after the first two seasons, but aside of Episode 3’s nonsense, this put the story back on track.
Rating: 7.75/10.00
Prediction
After going 4-0 in the quarterfinals, this writer whiffed in the semifinals by picking neither Spain, nor Argentina to advance.
Going with France was the smart play (though I was rooting for Spain), but selecting England over Argentina? What a dope!
While it is true that I really did not want to see France or Argentina back in the final, going with a very flawed England side proved to be a mistake.
Now, with Spain and Argentina ready to lay down what could be an ugly, choppy, finale…we just have to hope that each squad remembers the skill they have and the talent each roster contains. This could be a beautiful game or it could be a street brawl. There really might not be an in-between.
Against my better judgement, I’ll go against Lionel Messi in what could be his last World Cup game.
Prediction: Spain 2-1 Argentina
Prediction Records
- Total: 120-58
- Perfect Picks: 22
- Bundesliga Last Matchday: 0-0
- Bundesliga Overall: 0-0
- DFB-Pokal: 0-0
- World Cup: 70-28
- International Friendlies: 50-30
- Champions League: 0-0
- Club Friendlies: 0-0
- Franz Beckenbauer Supercup: 0-0
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