Original article from L'Equipe , published in 2025.

He is both a mystery and a star, an enigma and an artist. So, on March 6, when Michael Olise arrived at a dead-end street in downtown Munich, home to the photo studio for our meeting, the Bayern star knew he was awaited with great enthusiasm and immense curiosity.

His inner circle described him as "expectant," equally curious about how this first major interview would unfold. The French attacker has rarely spoken in public, neither to the press nor to his fans, to whom he reveals very little by choice and a desire for discretion. "The pitch is where you should provide the answers," he stated last December in Bayern's official magazine, a controlled outlet for the few words from a man who has made monosyllabic responses his trademark.

A Striking Personality

Olise is a man of few words, a man of the shadows, a "ninja-man" as suggested by the only emoji he posts on his social media. His on-field celebration leaves little room for doubt: a finger in his ear, another on his lips. Keep quiet. What can be inferred from this? Over the years, some have seen it as detachment, others as a disinterest in media attention. "Mr. Nonchalant," his new club recently communicated.

Some have gone further, hastily judging the now 23-year-old's striking personality. But the man who met us on that sunny Bavarian afternoon was far from these assumptions. Arriving with a sizable entourage—an agent, a lifestyle manager, a public relations officer—Olise apologized for a slight delay, took in his surroundings, and began to open up.

There was shyness, but also a broad smile, firm handshakes, and initial laughter. He had misplaced his phone; he was forgiven. "Thank you for coming to me." The previous night, the player had been decisive again in the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen (3-0), providing an assist for Harry Kane to add to his excellent record of 5 goals and 2 assists in 11 matches. It is his very first season in the competition.

Inevitably, in the wake of a major transfer, strong performances, and now six caps for the French national team, Michael Olise has become a top-tier star—all without ever engaging with the media, spending 45 minutes one-on-one with journalists, or gracing a magazine cover where he experiments with poses and outfits, collaborating with the photographer and stylist on colors and aesthetics.

"Very Focused but Relaxed"

He hasn't even made an appearance for a sponsor. "He doesn't have any, it doesn't really interest him," we were told. "If I know someone well enough, I'm quite open, free to talk about anything and everything," he says, switching between French and English with ease. "What would I say about myself? I'm very focused but relaxed, and I like to enjoy the things I do. In daily life and in football. Enjoying life's moments and living in the present."

Over the four and a half hours spent in his company, the Munich-based player revealed a sincere side: that of a young adult who loves his life and, above all, football. He is different, but not in a way that feels cultivated; it is simply his nature. For the occasion, several friends sent messages, including Han-Noah Massengo, the 23-year-old Auxerre midfielder also born in 2001.

The two met in the France U18 squad and have remained close. "Michael, my brother, now that you're driving on the other side of the road, did you take lessons? I thought I was going to die last time." A laughing Olise replied: "I'm a good driver, but a cautious one. And everything was fine the last time he was with me! As for the change, it was difficult driving on the other side of the road at first, but you get used to it!"

The boy from Hayes, in west London, seems to have adapted to that just as he has to everything else, especially life in Germany, where he has settled into a quiet house on the outskirts of the city. It's a world away from the whirlwind that has defined Michael Olise's life since the summer of 2024. His journey has included being courted by top clubs like Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, and Arsenal, a colossal transfer fee exceeding €50 million, a silver medal with the French Olympic team, and his first senior call-up to Didier Deschamps' national squad in September.

"I think the Paris Games allowed people to get to know me."

"The Olympics were the best football experience of my life," says Olise, who finished the tournament with two goals and five assists. "It was amazing, especially being in France. We had a long preparation period leading up to the competition, which allowed the team to come together and move forward as one. We were close. Traveling through the country, I felt the passion, the power of being at home. From the start, we told ourselves we had to do something solid. Everyone gave their all in every match. I don't know if I was very well-known in France before that. I had only played for the youth teams, but I think the Games allowed people to get to know me."

The silver medal, won after a 5-3 defeat to Spain in the final, is now safely kept at his parents' home in London. Olise speaks of his family with great modesty, revealing only that they attended his recent match against Leverkusen and visit Munich whenever they can to ensure their eldest son is doing well.

He also shares that France is the homeland of his Franco-Algerian mother, who always spoke French to him at home, even as he replied in English. His father emigrated from Nigeria to England. As a child, the family visited France regularly, and he "loved" the atmosphere, the food, the culture, and of course, his relatives who still live there.

"I have little things from each country in me"

Michael ultimately chose to represent Les Bleus out of conviction, feeling it was the shirt under which he would best flourish, without feeling torn by his rich multicultural background. "I have many different connections with Nigeria, Algeria, France, and England. It's not something I think about every day; it's completely normal for me. I have little things from each country in me. It opened my mind because these cultures are quite different from one another. At home, I had three thanks to my parents. And outside, it was England, where I grew up. I didn't have to force this mix; it was just there."

This unique background mirrors his unconventional career path, a stark contrast to the prodigies from England's top academies, including his friend and now Bayern teammate, Jamal Musiala.

Michael Olise started football early and was undeniably gifted. But who really noticed? Not Arsenal, Chelsea, or Manchester City, all of whom released the precocious, skillful, and mercurial player by the U14 level, labeling him as an elusive and daydreaming teenager.

At 15, he found himself back in amateur youth football—a world of hardworking apprentices. It was a different style of play and a new challenge. Less dribbling, more "kick and rush" in the mud. At the time, he often told his family, "This isn't football." They, however, believe the experience forged him, forcing him to carry bibs and wash kits—basic tasks his former peers, now rising stars with daily support staff, never had to do. "If I had followed a classic path, I would be a very different person," Olise asserts.

After his departure from Manchester City, he was without a club for several months until Reading, a more modest Championship side, took a chance on him. "It was clearly a gamble from the club, which knew of him, had seen his matches, and finally gave him a trial," recalls a source familiar with the situation. He started from scratch, accepting that sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward. "It's rare to have a direct path," he explains. "You have to take these challenges as lessons, as elements to integrate and refine, rather than seeing them negatively. It can only help you later in your career."

Until his professional debut in March 2019, Olise developed under the radar. He was eventually named the Championship's Young Player of the Season in 2021 after a grueling 46-game campaign filled with grit and battles—what he calls "adult football."

"I had to be smart with my body and play differently. I was always trying to adapt to the context."

In training, his flashy style was initially seen as showboating. "Everyone wants to dribble when they're young!" he laughs. Soon, the old guard will go to war for him. "I had to be smart with my body and play differently. I was always looking to adapt to the context," Michael Olise reflects. Upon joining Crystal Palace under then-manager Patrick Vieira, he changed nothing—neither his routines nor his style, which he defines as a hybrid mix of academy training and "street footballer" flair.

In the Eagles' nest, he found a common language in the art of the dribble and the swagger of South London. There, he shared a desire to put on a show with artists like Wilfried Zaha and Eberechi Eze. "I love you, Michael!" Eze quipped, laughing, in a video message. Sean Conlon, one of his former coaches, still has vivid memories of matches where Olise ran the show: "Such speed of execution..."

This style is heavily influenced by "the cages," the asphalt pitches where kids wear out their shoes playing for hours with others from the neighborhood. For Michael, it also meant games in the park next to his house with his brother Richard, now 20 and part of Chelsea's academy.

"You'd go knock on all your friends' doors to play in the street until the end of the day," recalls the elder brother. "We were always outside, playing, competing, challenging each other. I admit I'd rather be with him than against him. It would be fun to face each other one day. But he's a right-back, so I'd have to switch sides..."

"I like players who play freely. I think people want entertaining football. I might have been a midfielder. But a defender, never."

Since those days when football was only "pleasure, never a frustration," Olise has retained his precision, touch, and above all, his instinct on the right wing. "You have your ideas, but most choices are made in the moment. I like players who play freely. I think people want entertaining football. I might have been a midfielder. But a defender, never. I prefer everything related to attacking."

He mentions Lionel Messi and Neymar but insists he has tried to create his own version of the modern winger. Among his coaches, Olise remembers those who most encouraged his creativity, like Thierry Henry, his manager during the Olympics, who remains a benchmark. When "Titi" is mentioned, Olise naturally sits up straighter on the sofa and smiles: "A legend! I was able to learn new aspects to integrate into my game, to understand his vision. We have a similar understanding of football. Often, I would see how he thought about something, and he, in turn, was interested in how I saw things, and we would discuss it all."

In Henry, he found someone who sought to understand him—a boy not quite suited for school or predefined boxes, never one to charm his audience, and difficult to figure out. Chelsea had once rejected him, signaling to the rest of the UK that Olise was a "case."

His mantra: a little more each day

Last year, an IQ test revealed a score of 127, classified as "superior." "He has a sharp, advanced mind," says a close source, aware that introspection isn't the easiest exercise for the player. "People can think differently, which may have led to misunderstandings at times."

Is he gifted? The player prefers to focus on concrete things. "I try to leave aside anything subject to luck; I'd rather create my own destiny than think it might just fall into my lap. When I had my first professional year, I realized that football was perhaps a bit different from what I had imagined. It's actually quite serious. I understood, I saw people... Some do more than you. You, you've done nothing, you've just arrived. So I started to work a lot. And to never look back. It's the future that drives me." He eventually had a Japanese mantra tattooed on his shin: a little more each day.

As the hours pass, Michael Olise begins to let his guard down. He talks about another tattoo, his first at 18, and his latest on his arm—a Statue of Liberty with its face covered by a bandana, an interesting choice for a player who almost always plays in long sleeves. Between bites of dried mango, he starts singing along to the rhythm of English and American rappers Central Cee and Trippie Redd. He casually mentions it's best to stay away from sweets and discusses his on-pitch style, coordinating his boot colours with his jersey. "I used to always play in white boots, then I tried something different in the Cup. I liked it, so I kept doing it," he says with a laugh.

After finishing a wrap — which he notes he'll order without tomatoes next time — he asks for feedback on a different kind of performance: "What did you think of the interview ?" It was at the end of this conversation that he revealed his passion for chess. "He's constantly looking for strategies," a member of his entourage explains. "He has tactics books and searches online. He's always played, and it's made him very meticulous."

Olise also recounts his table tennis victories over Jamal Musiala, whom he calls "pretty good," though he admits he doesn't always beat Sacha Boey, "an excellent player." He also recalls a childhood interest in cricket. "Anything related to sports appealed to me. I loved playing all of them and was quite good at cricket. But I never imagined being anything other than a footballer."

"Sometimes you have to find a balance, football can't take over your whole life."

So, what is his daily life like now? "I'm not as serious as I am in football," he laughs. "I can completely switch off. I think if you don't, you can go crazy. Sometimes you have to find a balance; football can't take over your whole life. I'm getting closer to that balance, but it's difficult..." He hasn't explored Munich much, citing a lack of time and a preference for quiet, and has only returned to London twice. His colleagues are unlikely to drag him into activities he doesn't want to do.

"But if it's something I haven't done in a while, something that gets me out of the house to have fun, I might do it," he concedes. What truly excites him, however, is the next French national team camp and the two upcoming matches against Croatia — and not just for the chance to wear the oversized navy blue jacket he carefully selected, which some suggested he should sport at the next Clairefontaine fashion show.

"It's such a source of pride to be there, to wear that jersey," he states. "I remember Didier Deschamps' first call-up. I was so happy. I had wanted it since I was young. Then I saw my name on the jersey... I was more excited than scared. I knew several of the younger players, like Manu Koné, who was called up at the same time and with whom I have a connection. Going there together was really nice. This France squad is quite young. It's a bit of a new team, and we all want to win together."

When the World Cup is mentioned, it brings back memories of Asamoah Gyan's Ghana and his spectacular volleys, though he can't quite explain why. "In any case, I haven't won anything yet, and I want a trophy. With Bayern, and then with France next year, the World Cup is my dream. Football is unpredictable, but that's what I want for myself in five or ten years: to have won things."

Feedback from the French national team on his integration has been positive. While Olise had yet to deliver a true "statement game," a member of the coaching staff was full of praise after his performance against Croatia: "He's simply a football genius. He is unique." Olise, for his part, plans to stick to his principles, no matter the circumstances.

"Deep down, it will always be me, just more mature," he says. A spectacular player who is reliable in high-stakes matches, like in the Champions League recently, Michael Olise smiles when told his name is becoming well-known among the younger generation on this side of the Rhine.

What message would he like to share with them? "Form whatever image of me you feel is most accurate. I've learned from football that it's a sport of opinions, and you have to keep doing what you believe is right. And for me, that comes down to one essential thing: always being authentic."