Florentino Perez surprises over Michael Olise approach as Bayern anticipate long transfer game

Madrid – When Real Madrid president Florentino Perez sat down to lunch with Bayern Munich counterparts Jan-Christian Dreesen and Herbert Hainer at the Michelin-starred Restaurante Zalacain this week, the air was thick with expectation. Europe’s two most decorated clubs were still digesting Bayern’s 2-1 Champions League quarter-final first-leg victory at the Bernabeu, a match in which Michael Olise had tormented the Madrid defence and supplied the cross for Harry Kane’s decisive goal. Yet, according to those present, the French winger’s name never crossed Perez’s lips.

Christian Falk of CF Bayern Insider, who broke the story, said: “I wondered whether Perez would test the waters on Olise, perhaps ask if there was any price Bayern would entertain. Not one word on the subject.” The omission was all the more striking given Madrid’s well-documented interest in the 24-year-old former Crystal Palace attacker, who has no release clause in the contract he signed last summer.

Bayern’s stance has been unambiguous all season: Olise is not for sale at any price. The club’s hierarchy left Madrid with that message intact, while privately preparing for what sporting director Max Eberl has previously called “the long game” that elite transfers have become. With no buy-out clause to expedite negotiations, any prospective bidder must table an offer Bayern deem irresistible or risk a drawn-out stand-off.

Olise’s performance on Spanish soil only sharpened Madrid’s appetite. Only Manuel Neuer finished the evening with a higher FotMob rating among Bayern players, the winger completing four key passes and winning six of nine duels. Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe, by contrast, were kept relatively quiet.

Perez’s silence may yet prove strategic. Madrid have three months before the window opens to craft a package persuasive enough to shift Bayern’s immovable position. For now, Munich heads back to Germany buoyed by a first-leg lead and the knowledge that their prize asset remains, at least rhetorically, off the market.

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