Olise to snub Nigeria and Algeria for France

Michael Olise in action

Monday Jun 24, 2024. 12:32

New Bayern Munich signing Michael Olise wants to represent France at senior level despite being eligible to play for Nigeria, Algeria and England.

The 22-year-old winger, who was born in London, has an African heritage as his father hails from Nigeria and his mother is French-Algerian.

Olise has already featured for the French Under-18 and Under-21 teams, although he was overlooked by Didier Deschamps for Les Bleus’ Euro 2024 campaign.

The former Reading youngster had been linked with a move away from Selhurst Park on the back of an impressive 2023-24 season for Crystal Palace and Bayern won the race for his signature after triggering his release clause last week.

Les Espoirs head coach Thierry Henry claims that Olise has expressed a desire keep playing for France at the highest level and was included in the U21 preliminary squad for the 2024 Olympics.

“We know that he has plenty of possibilities but he wants to play for France,” Henry was quoted as saying by the Mirror. “You have to highlight his desire to show that he wants to play for the French team.

“If he was English, he would have already left to play for England. He could have made the other choice and played the Euros with the England team, like his team-mate Eberechi Eze at Crystal Palace but he wants to play for France, knowing that he wouldn’t play in the Euros.”