World Cup 2026: How Michael Olise has become a star that shuns limelight

Olise’s younger brother Richard, 21, is also a professional footballer, although released this summer by Chelsea – just like Michael a decade ago.

Having briefly been at Arsenal, Olise spent seven years with Chelsea’s academy before being released aged 14. He then had a short spell at Manchester City, but they too let him go.

Enter Reading, then in the Championship.

However, Brendan Flanagan, the club’s head of recruitment, said he had to persuade bosses to recruit the 16-year-old in the summer of 2018.

“Because of the biases that go on in football, it took me a little bit longer to convince people in the building to bring him in because [he was] released from Chelsea, released from Man City – some people would see that as this is going to be a big problem,” he told the BBC.

“What might have been deemed as Michael being problematic at other clubs, because he’s quiet, he’s shy, he’s reserved, but we can work with those kids because that doesn’t make them a bad kid, it just makes them a little bit different.”

But Flanagan was afraid the Royals were going to miss out when Olise’s mother said they needed some time to rebuild his confidence after the setbacks.

“She said we’re going to do some work with a mentor because he’s obviously low in confidence – he’s been released from Chelsea, released from Man City – and we just want to make sure that when he comes in to you he’s ready for you,” added Flanagan.

“I thought to myself, ‘That’s it, end of – next time I see him he’ll be playing against us somewhere’.

“Four weeks later Mina rang me to say right we’re ready to go. She was true to her word – that’s the kind of people they are, honest genuine people.

“He came in and we never had a single problem with him. He was without a shadow of a doubt the best player that I’ve ever bought into this building.”

Olise was so keen to be on time for training that he would sometimes miss the start of it.

“He would come in at 7 o’clock in the morning for training, that starts at 9, and be asleep in his car when training started,” Flanagan said.

Olise made his Reading debut in March, 2019, against Leeds at the age of 17 – days after joining first-team training – and went on to make 73 appearances, scoring seven goals, over three seasons.

It was also there that he got called into the French youth-team set-up.

“It wasn’t a surprise that he chose France for me because they were the ones that were first in contact with him,” added Flanagan.

“In that 2001 England year group, they generally tended to come from Manchester City, Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal, Spurs – not so many from the likes of Reading.

“Michael would be one of those that say, ‘Well they chose me first, you didn’t want me when I was younger, so that’s where I’m going to go’.”