Michael Olise: Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson unsure on Chelsea and Manchester City target’s future

Crystal Palace forward Michael Olise is a Chelsea and Manchester City target this summer; Olise provided 11 assists and scored twice last season; Eagles boss Roy Hodgson on Olise future: “No one knows really at this moment in time….unfortunately these matters are totally out of my hands”

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson admits the squad at his disposal is too small to last a Premier League campaign but remains optimistic the club can add some new signings before the start of the season

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson is unsure whether Chelsea and Manchester City target Michael Olise will remain at the club this summer and says the forward’s future is “totally out of my hands”.

Sky Sports News understands Chelsea remain interested in the Frenchman with talks ongoing behind the scenes about whether the Blues will meet Olise’s release clause or go in with a structured deal.

Olise’s strong form saw him win the Palace players’ player of the season, while he has three years left on his Eagles contract.

When asked how confident he is that Olise will stay at Palace, Hodgson exclusively told Sky Sports News: “No one knows really at this moment in time.

“If there are clubs who are desperately or seriously preparing a bid and tempting him away then he’ll have a decision to make. I can only wait and see if there are clubs who are going to come in and make those bids and tempt him away, and in that situation what decision is he going to make, because he also knows that we are really very keen to keep him here.

“We really believe this is a good place for him and that we can provide him with a very good platform to go forward in his career.

“But unfortunately these matters are totally out of my hands – everything will depend I suppose on what happens in the future.

“You can never be certain as a manager that the players you’ve got, you like and you want are always definitely going to stay because we have a transfer market.

“I can only hope that transfer market doesn’t on this occasion punish us by persuading one of our very, very important key players to move.”

Hodgson: Outstanding Zaha a big loss

Hodgson has already lost Wilfried Zaha this summer after the winger left Palace on a free transfer to join Galatasaray.

The 30-year-old, who has made the third-most appearances for Palace after playing 458 games, rejected a four-year contract to remain at Selhurst Park.

“He [Zaha] is a big loss,” Hodgson admitted. “He’s been a mainstay at the club for so many years, certainly during the four-and-a-half years I’ve had here he’s really been a mainstay – an outstanding player and an outstanding club servant.

“Of course everyone at the club was really disappointed to see him move but we can’t do anything other than wish him well.

“It was a conscious decision he made that this is the moment he needs to move on and try something else in his career. After the service he’s given us, one has to say that we understand where you’re coming from and we reluctantly have to allow you to go because he’d run out of contract and wouldn’t sign a new one.

“I’m certain he will do very well in Turkey and I’m certain there will be many times during the course of the season I’ll be asked the question, ‘Do you miss Wilf Zaha?’ And I’ll probably be answering, ‘Yes, we do’.”

Hodgson ‘optimistic’ of more signings

Palace have replaced Zaha with Brazilian forward Matheus Franca after the 19-year-old joined from Flamengo in a £26m deal.

Franca is just Palace’s second summer signing after the arrival of midfielder Jefferson Lerma from Bournemouth on a free transfer.

But Hodgson is “optimistic” that Palace will make more signings before the transfer window closes on September 1, especially after the recent departures of Zaha, James McArthur and Luka Milivojevic.

The 75-year-old said: “The club believe we need more players in because we lost so many.

“The young lad from Brazil, [Franca] whom we have very high hopes for, is not going to be available for the first period of time because he’s got an injury that he’s looking after.

“We are at the moment short in terms of the squad size and the support we need to get through the opening games due partly to the injuries of people like Olise and Will Hughes.

“We’re very much aware of what needs to be done. The club is working at it and I’m more than optimistic that by the end of the transfer window this squad will be bigger and a stronger looking squad than it is when we go into the first game.”

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