After losing one of their jewels in the crown, Crystal Palace and Oliver Glasner will have a huge task this summer to replace Michael Olise after his move to Bayern Munich.
Palace finished tenth in the Premier League last season, and the challenge will now be for Glasner to improve upon this after a good second half of the year when he was appointed to take over from Roy Hodgson.
Reinforcements have already been made, with the signings of Chadi Riad from Real Betis, and Daichi Kamada from Lazio, but the next step is replacing Olise, and bringing in a forward who can offer a similar level of output, which the Frenchman bought for the team.
Crystal Palace transfer news
According to reports from LondonWorld, Crystal Palace are in discussions to bring Marseille winger Ismaila Sarr to the club. This would be a return to the Premier League for Sarr, who previously played for Watford from 2019-2023 in the top flight, and the Championship.
Marseille are said to be willing to let Sarr leave the club for “the right price”, as new manager Roberto De Zerbi looks to build his own squad in his image. Sarr is said to be keen on a return to the Premier League, as his agents and Palace look to find a solution.
That solution appears to be edging closer with personal terms agreed between club and player already according to the Athletic.
Sarr made 35 appearances in all competitions last campaign for Marseille, scoring five goals, providing six assists, and totaling 2,074 minutes.
Sarr vs Olise comparison
To compare the output of both, you need to look at Olise’s numbers last season for Palace. The Frenchman made 19 appearances for Palace in 2023/24, all coming in the Premier League, scoring ten goals and providing six assists in 1,278 minutes.
In Glasner’s system, Olise was often deployed as the right attacking midfielder, somewhat of a hybrid between a right-winger, and a number ten. This role, of course, has some different requirements than a touchline winger, and this could actually suit Sarr, and allow him to increase his output.
|
Sarr vs Olise comparison |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stat (per 90 mins) |
Sarr |
Olise |
|
Non-Penalty xG |
0.27 |
0.33 |
|
Progressive Passes |
2.39 |
5.51 |
|
Progressive Carries |
3.01 |
4.80 |
|
Touches (Att Pen) |
5.54 |
5.65 |
|
Fouls Drawn |
2.72 |
3.04 |
|
Stats from FBref |
||
Now, whilst Olise excels in pretty much all metrics over Sarr, you are talking about an elite talent that has just signed for Bayern Munich. The likelihood of finding a player of that level that is ready-made is extremely unlikely.
Instead, you need to approach the transfer market differently, especially with a club like Crystal Palace who need to spread their funds and assess other areas too. Sarr offers a similar threat on the counter as Olise, being able to offer himself as an outlet receiver, winning fouls and dragging his team up the pitch.
Sarr is also extremely fast, offering that on the break, and can use that to his advantage when progressing the ball via his carrying, which is a more direct style than the coordinated style of Olise.
The 26-year-old also has good non-penalty xG numbers, which could be further exploited in that inside forward role under Glasner. Let’s also keep in mind that while his output at Marseille wasn’t huge, he did once contribute with 16 goals and assists for Watford in the 2022/23 season. That was form that subsequently saw Ben Foster label him as a “freak”.
Expected Goals (xG) is a metric designed to measure the probability of a shot resulting in a goal.
What Sarr doesn’t offer to the level of Olise, is the creative passing and shot-creation for not only himself, but for others. However, as we said, this is where you need to find other ways to replace those metrics, and this has been done with the signing of Kamada.
Kamada brings an average of 5.44 progressive passes per 90 to the squad, and 1.25 key passes per 90, which gives Palace an extra creative boost, with the loss of Olise.
This move and having big boots to fill could bring the best out of Sarr, as Jean-Louis Gasset made the claim that “he will become a very big player” when talking about Sarr last season.
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