Chelsea are set to sign winger Michael Olise from Crystal Palace after activating a release clause in his contract in the region of £35m.
The France Under-21 international is poised to become the club’s ninth major signing of the summer.
London-born Olise registered 11 assists in the Premier League for Palace last season and signed for the Eagles from Reading on a five-year-deal in 2021.
Olise, 21, was a member of Chelsea’s youth system before leaving aged 14.
He is currently recovering from a hamstring injury that he picked up playing for France in the European Under-21 Championship.
The winger enjoyed an impressive 2022-23 campaign for Palace in which he registered 11 assists and scored two goals in 37 appearances and was named as the club’s player of the year.
Olise would join eight senior arrivals at Stamford Bridge this summer, headed up by the signing of Ecuador midfielder Moises Caicedo, who joined from Brighton for a £100m fee that could rise to a British club record of £115m.
Axel Disasi, Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Lesley Ugochukwu, Angelo Gabriel, Robert Sanchez and Diego Moreira have also joined the London club.
Caicedo was the 22nd player signed by Chelsea for a fee since American investor Todd Boehly and his Clearlake consortium took over in May 2022 and takes the total outlay of the new owners to almost £900m.
New Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has been tasked with overhauling the squad and vastly improving on last season’s 12th-place finish in the Premier League.
Mateo Kovacic, Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ethan Ampadu, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, Abdul Rahman Baba and former captain Cesar Azpilicueta have all departed so far this summer.
Chelsea opened their Premier League season with a 1-1 home draw against Liverpool last Sunday.
