Manchester United were being billed as serious Premier League title contenders this time last year, and were seconds away from closing the gap on then-leaders Arsenal to just six points when making the trip to Crystal Palace. A first-half goal from Bruno Fernandes looked like being the difference between the two sides, until Casemiro gave away a needless free-kick after a reckless lunge on Wilfried Zaha.
Michael Olise stepped up some 25 yards from goal, with the acute angle very much in David de Gea's favour at his near post, and proceeded to curl an unstoppable shot into the net off the underside of the crossbar. The rest of the Palace squad mobbed Olise in recognition of a quite remarkable goal, but he barely raised a smile, and casually walked back to the centre-circle as if it was just another routine day at the office.
To the fans watching on from both sides, it was surprising to see such a young player in full control of his emotions. But to anyone that knew him well, it was just Olise being Olise.
“We’d say he’s a bit weird sometimes because when he scored goals, he sometimes wouldn’t celebrate," the Palace star's former team-mate at Reading, Michael Morrison, told The Athletic in 2021. "We’d be like, ‘Mike, you’ve just scored an important goal and you’re just walking back?’. What’s he doing? Then he’d play two-touch with the manager in the gym, he’d win a point in that, and he’d be shouting and celebrating, but on a Saturday, he’d score a goal in front of the home end and just stand there. We never really worked out why. He could never give us an answer but he’s just different; a special player.”
According to ESPN, United have also seen something special in Olise since that fateful evening at Selhurst Park, and could make a formal offer for the 22-year-old in the summer window - but they will have to move quickly amid rival interest from Liverpool and Chelsea. Olise is suddenly the most in-demand winger in English football, and GOAL is on hand to explain why the hype around him is fully justified.