Crystal Palace have had some extremely talented defenders come through their academy ranks, including the likes of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Nathaniel Clyne and Tyrick Mitchell.
The Eagles also had attacking talents such as Wilfried Zaha rise up at Selhurst Park, going on to make 458 appearances for the club, scoring 90 goals and providing 61 assists.
At Reading, the young winger made 73 appearances, scoring seven goals and providing 14 assists for the club in senior football by the age of 19.And after Oliver Glasner’s poor start to the new campaign, scoring just five goals in their opening seven Premier League games, he could find himself looking at a certain youngster Palace loaned out this summer, someone who could have been their answer to the loss of Michael Olise.
Michael Olise’s career at Palace
Olise was signed by Palace from Reading back in 2021, the 19-year-old at the time costing them around £8m.
The Frenchman then went on to make 90 appearances for Palace, scoring 16 goals and providing 25, excelling in south London. His excellent form attracted interest from many suitors around Europe, including Bayern Munich.The 22-year-old has already made nine appearances for Bayern in all competitions, scoring six goals and providing three assists.
Crystal Palace’s next Olise
Jesurun Rak-Sakyi is a Palace academy product, who has already been labelled as a “top player” by teammate Marc Guehi.
You can see from the metrics above that Olise improved in every stat between the 2022/23 season and then the 2023/24 season, adding more shot volume, better efficiency, and extra progression to his game, which not only helped the side, but also his case for becoming one of the best in his position.
Olise’s vast improvement across the board earned him a move to Bayern, joining the German giants for a fee of around £50.8m.
The 22-year-old is currently spending time out on loan at Sheffield United, making nine appearances so far, scoring two goals and totalling 438 minutes played. It’s not a bad start to life away from Selhurst Park.The 22-year-old is producing 5.61 progressive carries per 90, taking 2.92 shots per 90, and completing 2.68 successful take-ons per 90, all reminiscent of Olise’s Palace numbers.The English winger has made 57 appearances for the Palace academy (both U18 and U21 combined), scoring 32 goals and providing 16 assists in those games. The wide man combines speed, clever footwork, and an ability to go both ways, much like Olise did for the Eagles.A carry is considered progressive if the ball is moved towards the opponent’s goal at least 10 yards from its starting point or is carried into the penalty area.If he can add extra efficiency to his actions, the Eagles may well have their next winger in the pipeline.Rak-Sakyi could be their Olise replacement, and he’s been there all along, with many Palace fans eagerly watching how his loan unfolds in the Championship, with the view of him hopefully returning for more regular minutes at Selhurst Park next season.
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