Chelsea offer Raheem Sterling to Crystal Palace for wonderkid Olise

Crystal Palace reportedly would not consider any offers of less than £60 million ($113.9 million AUD) for Michael Olise.  

The 2023/24 Premier League season isn’t over yet, but Chelsea are already looking ahead to the 2024 summer transfer window. TEAMtalk claim that the Blues are set to propose a swap deal with Crystal Palace involving England international Raheem Sterling and wonderkid Michael Olise.  

Chelsea looking to offload Sterling 

Chelsea’s new owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital made a splash in the transfer market after buying the club in May 2022. Boehly and Co spent over €1.1 billion on players in their first year-and-a-half with the club, mostly on young players.  
 
While some of the players Chelsea bought could turn out to be superstars one day, right now, the signings have put the club in a tough financial situation. They are right on the edge of violating both the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules and UEFA’s Financial Fair Play Rules. 
 
Selling aging players on big contracts could be a way for the club to get themselves some breathing room. Raheem Sterling is one of those players. 

Swap deal proposed 

Coming from a sport like baseball where players are traded between franchises, Todd Boehly is keen to bring player swaps into soccer. The American businessmen made news in the 2022 and 2023 offseason for offering players like Christian Pulisic, Romelu Lukaku, and others up in swap deals. Now, they are doing it again with Raheem Sterling.  
 
According to TEAMtalk, the Blues have offered Raheem Sterling plus a relatively small transfer fee to Crystal Palace in exchange for Michael Olise.  
 
Olise has been one of the brightest young talents in the Premier League since breaking through with Palace last season. Chelsea tried to sign the young attacker last season for £35 million. He decided to renew his contract and stay with Palace instead.  
 
Sterling has been out in the cold at Chelsea. The England winger has not played a full 90 for the Blues since January, and, as previously mentioned, the club are looking to shed his £325,000/week salary. 

Other Olise transfer rumours

Unlike baseball, players have a say in whether they are traded. Because of this, it’s unlikely Raheem Sterling makes a move to Palace in exchange for Olise. However, the wonderkid could be on his way out to a bigger club this offseason.  
 
Palace have reportedly put a £60 million ($113.9 million AUD) on Olise. If Chelsea make enough sales, they could meet this asking price. Manchester United and Tottenham have been concretely linked to the player. 
 
Other less-credible reports also say Aston Villa and Arsenal are interested.  

Few betting sites are offering Olise transfer odds. Of the soccer betting sites that are, Manchester United are the favourites to sign Olise at $2.85 odds. Surprisingly, PSG and Liverpool are also high on the odds list with Bet365 giving them each $7.00 odds to sign Olise.