Chelsea are among three clubs to have made official contact with Crystal Palace over the signing of Michael Olise, though one of the requirements in the winger's release clause has put the Blues on the back foot, according to a report.

Olise, 22, is one of the most in-demand wingers in the game right now and a summer transfer looks increasingly probable.

The classy left-footer bagged 16 goal contributions in just 19 Premier League appearances last term. As such, it's come as no surprise to learn interest is widespread.

Indeed, Newcastle and Bayern Munich were the first to make official contact with Olise's club Crystal Palace. Their aim was to ascertain what it will take to sign Olise this summer. Chelsea quickly followed suit with their own enquiry.

The Blues are long-term admirers of Olise having attempted to sign the forward last summer.

Chelsea activated Olise's PS35m release clause, though Olise chose to remain loyal to Palace and rejected the move. The winger would go on to sign a new contract at Selhurst Park that raised the value of his release fee.

PS60m is believed to be the magic number that can unlock Olise's signing. However, for Chelsea at least it's not quite that straightforward.

Champions League clause hampers Chelsea According to the Times, Olise's release clause can only be activated by clubs who have qualified for the Champions League. Unfortunately for the Blues, they'll be participating in the UEFA Conference League next season.

The lack of UCL football also means Newcastle cannot activate the clause either. The lack of Champions League football is not a problem that affects Bayern Munich.

Elsewhere, the Times listed Manchester United and Manchester City as clubs who could spring a surprise and snatch Olise. Man Utd are not in next year's Champions League, though Man City are.

Chelsea still confident despite release clause setback TEAMtalk learned on Wednesday of Chelsea preparing an opening bid that would be a structured one.

The Blues are prepared to pay the value of the release clause, though given they seemingly cannot trigger it, they'll need to agree a deal from scratch with Palace.

Accordingly, we have learned Chelsea's first bid could be instalments-based and also contain add-ons.

That gives the advantage to Chelsea's rivals in the race, though they do believe Olise will sign for the Blues if they agree a deal with Palace.

The English summer window opens today (Friday), and Olise could be amongst the higher profile early movers in the market.

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