Michael Olise: From academy struggles to proving himself world-class with Bayern Munich brilliance

Olise was born in London to a Nigerian father and a Franco-Algerian mother and his gift for the game was obvious from very early on. "He was an unbelievable little footballer, even at the age of six," Michael Richards, who coached Olise at Hayes & Yeading, told The Athletic earlier this year. "It was like watching an ice-skater play football, the way he used to glide around the pitch."

Unsurprisingly, this graceful and unusually unselfish attacker quickly attracted attention of London's top teams, but it was already clear that Olise was a contrary character.

According to Football London, he told his parents that he would not attend a trial with Chelsea unless he was allowed to wear his 'beloved Manchester United shirt'.

Unsurprisingly, the Blues signed him anyway, given the prodigious nature of his ability, but Olise's occasionally rebellious behaviour during his seven-year spell at the club ultimately led to his release in 2016.

According to multiple reports, he wasn't a bad kid, just difficult to deal with, but when a subsequent spell at Manchester City was brought to a very premature conclusion, there was a very real fear that Olise would fail to realise his potential.

"I remember saying to him, 'You’re 14 now, in four years’ time you want to be 18 and making anyone that didn’t believe in you regret it,'" Olise's former mentor at We Make Footballers, Sean Conlon, told The I Paper. "And [being released by Chelsea and City] is a key part of what changed him, and made him who he is now, because he got his head down."

However, while Olise did indeed get his act together at Reading, whom he joined in 2017 after six months without a club, his aloof attitude continued to cause problems. Former Royals manager Jose Gomes wanted to bring him into the first-team fold from the moment he saw Olise in action for the club's Under-16s but was blocked from doing so.

"The directors of the club's academy told me that he wasn't attending classes and that he was very irresponsible with his studies," the Portuguese told Diario AS. "They said that if I promoted him, it would be a bad example for the rest of the youth academy because he wasn't fulfilling his obligations as a student within the plan established for him.

"Chelsea kicked him out for the same reason some tried to do so at Reading: because he didn't attend classes and didn't pay attention to his studies."

Gomes, though, remained undeterred. He was adamant that Olise needed to be added to the senior squad. "I told the youth academy directors that the boy didn't want to be a mathematician or an engineer, but a footballer, and that it was in his blood," he said.

The coach's only concern lay over whether Olise could cope with the physicality of the Championship, which is even more brutal than the Premier League.

"He had left City because his teammates laughed at him," Gomes claimed. "He had weak arms, and English boys were strong. When the fitness coach told them to do push-ups, he struggled a lot, and his teammates mocked him. He felt humiliated and left.

"But I drew up a plan to prepare him for his debut in the Championship and I told my players not to hold back when it came to tackling him hard in training, so he could learn what professional football is like.

"Michael complained and cried because they were giving him a hard time. He didn't understand it at the time. But I told him that if he could endure a week of his team-mates' defensive actions without crying, I'd call him up.

"And I did. I called him up because it was obvious he was going to stand out and I gradually gave him playing time until he became a starter while still a teenager."

It would be oversimplifying things to say that Olise hasn't looked back since breaking into the Reading first team, because there have been other obstacles to overcome in the interim. He wasn't immediately propelled to the pinnacle of his profession.

Olise had to prove himself in the Premier League with Crystal Palace before vindicating Bayern's decision to spend €60 million (£50.8 million) on a player who had been plagued by muscular issues the season before.

He's done all that, and more. Harry Kane may be considered the current favourite to win this year's Ballon d'Or yet there was, quite literally, no better player in Germany last season than Olise, who then went to the World Cup and claimed an assist record previously held by Pele.

And it's not like integrating into the France squad came without its challenges either, given he was far from fluent when he first started lining out for les Bleus - which was hardly ideal for an innately introverted character.

As Rayan Cherki said before the World Cup, Olise is "a guy who loves being on his own" - and yet he's adored by his team-mates, and his coaches.

"Нe has his own way of looking at the game and life," former France Under-23s coach Henry told CBS Sports earlier this year. "That’s why sometimes, off the pitch, people don't understand him. But he’s a pleasant guy, a great guy. He doesn't say much off the field, but when he has the ball, he communicates very well through his play."

Olise, who is infamously awkward in interviews, has admitted himself that he's always been a firm believer in letting his feet do the talking for him - which is obviously rooted in his experiences as an oft-misunderstood maverick operating within the academy system.

"Sometimes people don’t think about it being hard for players who are supremely talented because that can also come with its own difficulties,” Conlon told The Guardian. "It’s not been a perfect journey for Michael but I think that has benefited him.

"He might be a little bit quiet but he’s humble and very polite. I've heard some of his teammates referring to him as the rock star. He has got something very unique about his persona."

Olise is certainly different, on and off the field. And the best part is that given he's still only 24, this really could be just the start. His best might yet be to come.