Rebuffed by Julián Álvarez, Real Madrid targets Michael Olise as next galáctico

Florentino Pérez is not giving up. Weeks after his failed attempt to sign Julián Álvarez — the Atlético Madrid striker, presented as a player “of Cristiano Ronaldo’s calibre”, did not respond to Madrid’s offer — the re-elected Real Madrid president is still preparing a major transfer move.

According to several Spanish media outlets, the new priority target is Michael Olise. The French attacking midfielder at Bayern Munich has been in the Merengue’s sights for several weeks, and Madrid’s interest is reportedly concrete enough that Kylian Mbappé has been asked to convince his France teammate to join him in Madrid, according to the newspaper Sport.

However, the deal faces a major obstacle: Bayern Munich has made clear that their player is not for sale. The newspaper AS nuances this position, suggesting that “the final decision would rest with the Frenchman” if Real Madrid tabled a financially irresistible offer for the Bavarian club.

On Radio Marca, journalist Roberto Gomez confirmed that Florentino Pérez is preparing “something significant” for the next transfer window, without specifying what. He did, however, suggest that in his place, he would prioritise approaching Olise.

The World Cup is expected to freeze any significant progress on this deal until the competition ends. Once it concludes, the question will also arise of whether Florentino Pérez will take his manager’s opinion into account: José Mourinho has already made it publicly clear that he does not want a “galáctico” joining his squad.