Michael Olise was spoiled for choice when it came to his international career. Born in England, the 24-year-old has French and Algerian roots through his mother, as well as Nigerian through his father. However, the French international never really hesitated about his choice.
At a very young age, Michael Olise maintained a strong link with France thanks to his Franco-Algerian mother, who regularly sent him to spend his school holidays with his French family. An attachment reinforced by his early passion for the Blues, largely nourished by his mother, who made him watch the exploits of the generation of Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry.
According to the revelations of Parisiantwo people then played a major role in the decision of the French number 11 to represent France. The first is his former agent, who took the initiative to contact Guillaume Testu, then a member of the staff of the French youth selections.
“In fact, it all started with the call from his former agent who had contacted us a few months earlier to tell us about Michael and his desire to play for the France team… We then watched a few videos, and what he was doing was really interesting. What impressed me were the set pieces. He had a great foot, something different in his handling of the ball and in his dribbling too. He made a good impression”tells Guillaume Testu to
Parisian.
“More chances of being world champion with the Blues”
The second key character is named Odsonne Édouard. Teammate of Michael Olise at Crystal Palace, the former Paris Saint-Germain striker quickly became close to the attacking midfielder, to the point of helping him perfect his French. “Was he already very attached to the French team? Absolutely ! From the start, he told me: “I want to play for the France A team”. Every player knows their potential and Michael was very sure of himself. So, I told him something like: “Yeah, OK.” And less than three years later, he made his debut with the A”. says Edouard for his part.
However, there was no shortage of requests. Nigeria and Algeria tried their luck, as did England. But for Michael Olise, the decision was already made. “It wasn’t about England or anything. He told me that he had always been a supporter of the France team. And he also explained to me that he had a better chance of being world champion with the Blues than with England”explains Patrick Vieira to The Team. An intuition which could well prove correct since Michael Olise is now preparing to play a quarter-final of the 2026 World Cup with the Blues against Morocco.
