Page 67 - Soccer360 Issue 107

tight grip that Massimiliano Allegri had on the club over the past few years. His replacement Thiago Motta led Bologna to their highest finish in Serie A since 1971 by coming fifth
and qualifying for the Champions League group stage for the first time. Motta could look to build his midfield around the Brazilian international in his preferred 4-3-3 formation or by switching to 4-2-3-1 with Luiz playing in a double pivot with fellow new signing Khephren Thuram or Manuel Locatelli.
Luiz had been courted by the likes of Arsenal with their Coach Mikel Arteta reportedly
a huge fan of the 26-year-old and was hoping to use his technical ability and game intelligence to help the Gunners to the Premier League title; fortunately for Juventus fans those talents will now be showcased
in Turin. Motta and Luiz will have to hit the ground running this season as the Old Lady is unlikely to tolerate another year of watching bitter rivals lifting the Scudetto.
BUNDESLIGA - MICHAEL OLISE
After showcasing some outstanding ability at Crystal Palace over the past three years Bayern Munich decided to pay the London outfit €53m for their marauding playmaker Michael Olise. Despite an injury-interrupted season, the 22-year-old still managed to find the back of the net an impressive 10 times in 14 starts while also setting up six goals for his teammates last term.
Olise made his professional debut for Reading after spending time with Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City’s youth teams before signing a five-year deal with Palace in 2021. Olise’s first few seasons at Selhurst Park saw him gain the reputation of a tricky left-footed attacking player who liked to dribble past his opponents and create goalscoring chances for his striking partners. In contrast last season his unique qualities started to truly come to the fore, as he started to add goals to his play and either side of his hamstring injury, looked the real deal. This was especially the case towards the end of the campaign when Palace hit spectacular form, with Olise
showing a level of class and unpredictability that suggested he is destined for the top. Despite being born in London Olise has represented France in under-age levels and took part in the Olympic Games with the French U-23 team that made it to the final. In six games as Les Bleus won the silver medal, Olise contributed with two goals and five assists, which included netting the third goal in extra time in his nation’s 3-1 semi-final win over Egypt.
Olise arrives at Bayern to effectively replace Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting who was released by the Bavarian giants this summer. Along with fellow new arrival from the Premier League Joao Palhinha as well as Hiroki Ito, who joins from Stuttgart, Bayern will be looking to wrestle the Bundesliga title back from Bayer Leverkusen.
His new coach at the Allianz Arena Vincent Kompany could look to exploit Olise’s pace wide on the right as an outlet for his Pep Guardiola-inspired build up from the back football. It will be interesting to see what type of partnership he forms with England captain and fellow Londoner Harry Kane who will relish dropping deep to pick up the ball and utilise Olise’s pace with passes into space before breaking into the box. If all goes well, expect Olise to be near the top of the Bundesliga assists chart in 2024-25.
*As of August 27th, 2024
SOCCER360 65
A VERY
PLAYERS ON THE MOVE
Julian Alvarez
(Man. City to Atletico Madrid) – €75m Dominic Solanke
(Bournemouth to Tottenham) – €64m Leny Yoro
(Lille to Manchester United) – €62m Pedro Neto
(Wolves to Chelsea) – €60m Moussa Diaby
(Aston Villa to Al-Ittihad) – €60m Joao Neves
(Benfica to PSG) – €57.8m Amadou Onana
(Everton to Aston Villa) – €58m Dani Olmo
(Leipzig to Barcelona) – €54.5m Michael Olise
(Crystal Palace to Bayern Munich) – €52m Joao Felix
(Atletico Madrid to Chelsea) - €52m Douglas Luiz
(Aston Villa to Juventus) – €51.5m Joao Palhinha
(Fulham to Bayern Munich) – €51m Désiré Doué
(Stade Rennais to PSG)- €50m Endrick
(Palmeiras to Real Madrid) – €47.5m Max Kilman
(Wolves to West Ham) – €47.5m Georginio Rutter
(Leeds to Brighton) – €46.7m Matthijs de Ligt
(Bayern Munich to Man. United) – €45m Riccardo Calafiori
(Bologna to Arsenal) – €45m Ian Maatsen
(Chelsea to Aston Villa) – €43.4m Joshua Zirkzee
(Bologna to Man. United) – €42.5m CLUB SPENDING LEADERS
SUMMER
BUSY
INDEED
Chelsea
Aston Villa
Manchester United West Ham United Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid Olympique Lyon Brighton & Hove Albion Parid Saint Germain Tottenham Hotspur Al-Ittihad Club Juventus
AS Roma
Olympique Marseille Borussia Dortmund Arsenal FC Nottingham Forest
(€189m) (€176m) (€165m) (€144m) (€142m) (€142m) (€134m) (€121m) (€119m) (€119m) (€97m) (€89m) (€88.60) (€85m) (€80m) (€77m) (€73m)
ABOVE:
President of Atletico de Madrid, Enrique Cerezo (R) and Julian Alvarez (L) during
his official presentation as new player of Atletico de Madrid
BELOW:
Michael Olise is an extremely exciting new addition to the Bayern squad