Despite plenty of interest from elsewhere, Bayern Munich moved quickly to secure the services of Michael Olise during the summer transfer window. The Frenchman had gone from strength to strength at Crystal Palace and it felt like the most sure-fire signing a club would make all summer.
It is currently proving to be that way, early on - and Bayern think as much themselves too. Fabrizio Romano has reported that Bayern are "extremely happy" with Olise, and they apparently believe they got the attacker for a "bargain". He also claims that the management and staff see "huge potential" in the 22-year old.
Whilst there is no hot take there, and a lot of fans would have said the same before seeing the quotes, it is refreshing to see things going well so soon for Olise - who has had to adapt to a new league, a new country, a new team, a new style of play, etc, but has seemingly adapted incredibly well. Olise's nonchalant personality may have helped him be not phased by all of the new challenges at hand.
Michael Olise making a strong impression at Bayern Munich
So, let's take a look at how he has settled in. Vincent Kompany has used Olise off the right hand side in every game other than the home victory against SC Freiburg, where he went with an uber attacking line-up and the Frenchman played more centrally. Perhaps not so coincidentally, that was Olise and the team's quietest game so far.
Against Wolfsburg, Olise showed nice link-up with Sacha Boey throughout the first-half, and it was their combination that led to Musiala opening the scoring. Kimmich coming slightly wide from midfield made for a really creative right side triangle. From that point of view, it is a shame that Boey will be out for a couple of months.
When the attacker came on against Kiel, his heat map was the furthest wide it had been all season, but he was still able to grab a goal, showing his tactical versatility.
It was interesting to note how Olise performed against Dinamo Zagreb, considering the right-back on the night, Raphael Guerreiro, is also left-footed. His game did not change too much, mostly occupying the right half-space, whilst also coming inside from deeper areas to help in build-up. Guerreiro held width, despite not being on his natural side.
Something that can be really key for Bayern is that Olise is showing linear development when it comes to scoring goals. He scored two league goals in each of his first two seasons at Palace, including the 22/23 season - where he played 37 games. Last season was the best return of his career, and he has taken it into this season.
Olise has always had the talent to score goals, but when he was younger, he would find it hard to score if he wasn't scoring from long range. Whilst he still has that goal in his locker, he is getting into better areas to score goals now. His goal against Kiel was a rebound, whilst on Tuesday night he scored a header from a corner, and an open goal after Musiala squared the ball to him.
Last season, there was absolutely nowhere near enough goals contributed outside of Harry Kane. In the 23/24 season, Musiala (with exactly 10) was the only other player to reach double figures. The third top scorer, Sane, did not find the net after October 28. If Olise can give Bayern 10-12 goals, it will give them a good chance of returning to the Bundesliga throne.