Michael Olise's birthday: A look at his time so far in Munich

Today, the 12th of December, marks Bayern winger Michael Olise's 23rd birthday. To mark the occasion, let's take a look at his time at the club so far.

Taking a look at Michael Olise's time at Bayern so far

Despite perennial links to Chelsea, it was confirmed in July that Bayern had activated Olise’s release clause, and he had agreed to join the club, for around 60 million euros.

The winger had been, perhaps unfairly, left out of France’s European Championships squad, but was part of the Olympic side that won the silver medal on home soil. Due to not playing at the Euros, he joined up with Bayern straight away for the start of the season.

After a couple of bright Bundesliga games, where he was able to get his feet under the table – the Bayern number 17 scored his first goal off the bench, in a win over Holsten Kiel back in September. Three days later, he scored twice on his Champions League debut in a win over Dinamo Zagreb.

Next up was perhaps his best for the club so far. In a 5-0 win over Wolfsburg, Olise scored two goals and provided a further two assists – including showing absolutely sublime footwork to evade challenges in the box, and tee the ball for Jamal Musiala to tap home.

During Bayern’s 5-0 victory at VFL Bochum in October, the now 23-year old scored his first free-kick for the club, with a lovely clipped technique after just 16 minutes in the game. There are very few in the game that have as good technique as the Bayern wide man.

In Olise’s first Der Klassiker, he was reduced to a ten minute cameo off the bench, but still managed to provide a crucial assist for Musiala, to maintain Bayern’s unbeaten start in the Bundesliga, and make sure they headed home with something to show for their second half display.

Last time out, in the win over Shaktar Donetsk, we saw Olise at his absolutely brilliant best. Having already converted a penalty, and provided an assist for Konrad Laimer, the France international sat five or six opponents down, including the goalkeeper, with a mazy run, before slotting the ball into an unguarded net. A goal that Laimer described as “like playing Mario Kart.”

We all know how creative he is, he has shown that for years, but his goal threat is improving, and will be crucial in the absence of Harry Kane. In his first Premier League season, Olise scored two goals in 1151 minutes. In his second season, he scored two goals in 2762 minutes. Then, in his final season – he scored 10 goals in 1277 minutes, a marked improvement.

So far this season, he has scored five Bundesliga goals in 779 minutes. In the Champions League, he has scored four goals in 359 minutes – essentially four games worth of minutes. With Kane “unlikely” to be back for the showdown with Mainz this weekend, the goal threat of Musiala and Olise will be huge if Bayern want to come home with all three points.

Finally, as a last point – whilst his goals and assists numbers are impressive, he does provide more than that. In the Bundesliga alone, the winger is winning over five duels a game, one tackle a game, whilst completing 1.9 dribbles per game, and creating 1.7 chances per game.

Just an absolutely crucial player. With the struggles of Bayern’s wingers this season, the acquisition of Olise could be the difference between Die Roten winning the Bundesliga or not.