France winger Michael Olise was mocked at Manchester City and failed to adapt at Arsenal and Chelsea, according to the man who gave him his first-team debut.
Olise is now a key figure for Les Bleus and Bayern Munich, continuing his remarkable rise to prominence after breaking through at English side Reading before moving to Crystal Palace.
The 24-year-old scored a hat-trick in France’s World Cup warm-up game with Northern Ireland on Monday night and is expected to be one of the stars of the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico that gets underway tomorrow.
But it hasn’t been a seamless upward trajectory for Olise, whose early progression was hampered by a flagrant attitude towards education.
Jose Gomes came across Olise when he was a youngster at Reading but, despite immediately spotting his talent, saw his efforts to fast track him initially rejected.
The Portuguese, who is now boss of Saudi Arabian side Al-Khaleej, told AS: “I saw him in a game of the youth teams at Reading when I was training the first team and I was impressed. His first touch, his intelligence and the way he demanded to start the play were already phenomenal. I wanted to promote him to the first team immediately, but they [Reading’s academy directors] asked me not to.
“They told me that he didn’t go to class and that he was very irresponsible with his studies. They told me that if I promoted him, it would be a bad example for the rest of the academy because he did not fulfil his obligations as a student within the plan provided for him.”
Olise was discarded by Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City
Gomes claims by the time Olise had got to Reading, who were then in the Championship, he had already had issues elsewhere.
“Before he was 14 he was at Arsenal, but he didn’t adapt,” he added. “Chelsea kicked him out for the same reason that some wanted to at Reading – because he did not attend classes and did not pay attention to studies.
“And at Manchester City [he failed to fit in] because his team-mates laughed at him. He had skinny arms and the English boys were strong. When the physical trainer ordered them to do push-ups, he had a hard time and his classmates mocked. He felt humiliated and left.”
Olise was eventually called up to train with the Reading first team and learned the hard way how to deal with the increased physicality.
Gomes said: ”I told my players not to hold back when it came to going in hard in training so that he would learn what professional soccer is like. Michael complained and cried because they gave it to him good. He didn’t understand it at that moment. I told him that if he was able to endure the actions of his team-mates for a week without crying, I would include him [in the squad]. In the end it was two weeks when I thought he was ready.
“I gave him minutes little by little until he ended up as a starter when he was still almost a teenager. He was an adorable boy, with a big heart, who lived only for soccer. And he continues to be like that today.”
Olise can win Ballon d’Or and become better than Lamine Yamal
Gomes believes a strong World Cup will mean Olise, who played a starring role in Bayern’s Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal successes, is a leading candidate for this year’s Ballon d’Or.
He said: “Of course. With the season he has had, he is a very clear candidate and if he shows off in the World Cup, his chances will increase a lot. If he does well during the next few weeks he would be a fair winner. He has grown dramatically and will continue to do so.”
Gomes claims Olise is now on the same level as Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal, and even suggested the London-born player will eventually eclipse the Spain winger.
“I see an important difference [between the two],” he said. “I sense that Lamine’s environment is not benefiting him at all and what happens around him distracts him from the game, which is the most important thing. My perception is that for Lamine soccer is part of his life, but for Olise soccer is his life. He lives only for that.”
