Gael Clichy has never been one for hyperbole. When the former Arsenal and Manchester City full back speaks, you listen, because he has lived at the sh...
Gael Clichy has never been one for hyperbole. When the former Arsenal and Manchester City full back speaks, you listen, because he has lived at the sharp end of the international game. So when he tells GoalZaza that Michael Olise can become one of France's very best, it is worth paying attention.Olise's move to Bayern Munich last summer raised a few eyebrows. The Premier League had lost a serious talent, but the Bundesliga gained a player whose left foot can open any low block and whose vision in transitional play is frankly frightening. Clichy sees something deeper in the young forward. It is not just the technical gifts. It is the mentality. The calmness to take the ball in tight spaces, the willingness to drift inside and combine with a centre forward, the sheer arrogance required to attempt the impossible pass and pull it off.The French national team has long been a factory for top class attackers. We have watched Mbappé tear up the script, Griezmann orchestrate the chaos, and Benzema reinvent the number nine role for the modern game. But there is a different kind of threat in Olise. He is a creator first, a scorer second, and that rare mix of elegance and ruthlessness makes him a nightmare for defenders. Imagine him gliding off the right flank, cutting onto his preferred foot, and threading a ball through a congested penalty area. That is the kind of weapon Didier Deschamps will want in his back pocket when things get tight in the knockout rounds.The burning question now is whether Olise can handle the heat of a World Cup summer. The pressure on Les Bleus is always immense. The public expects nothing less than a semi final. But if Clichy is right, and the evidence so far suggests he might be, then Olise could be the man who unlocks the door when traditional methods fail. He has the tactical flexibility to play across the front line and the composure to finish a one on one with the goalkeeper. That is a rare combination.What makes this assessment from Clichy particularly fascinating is the comparison he draws. He is not saying Olise will be the new Zidane or the new Platini. He is saying Olise can be among France's very best. That is a distinction worth noting. It suggests a player who will define games rather than just appear in them. For Bayern Munich, this is a statement signing. For France, it could be the start of something special. The tournament in North America might just be the stage where Olise announces himself to the world.We have seen flashes of it already. The quick turns, the weighted passes, the ability to draw two defenders and still find the free man. But at a World Cup, everything is magnified. The margins shrink. The opposition studies you. The real test is whether Olise can adapt his game when the space is at a premium and the tackles fly in. If he can, Clichy's prediction will look very prescient indeed.
