Michael Olise has gone on to dazzle and deliver extraordinary performances time and time again for Bayern Munich since he left Crystal Palace. But is he the greatest export from Selhurst Park?
If you missed Tuesday night’s Champions League clash between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, then quite frankly, I feel sorry for you.
One of the all-time great Champions League ties finished 5-4 at the Parc des Princes as two of the best attacking teams in recent memory put on a clinic in how to entertain.
And, right at the heart of it was a player who used to entertain at Selhurst Park.
That man, of course, is Michael Olise.
In a semi-final first leg which produced more goals than any entire semi-final in the history of the competition, the Frenchman was one of several incredible talents on the pitch.
And yet, he was able to deliver for Bayern, with a remarkable finish shortly before half-time.
Olise received the ball from Alexander Pavlovic and went on to strike it with so much power that goalkeeper Matvei Safonov was unable to get anywhere near it, despite it being in the middle of the goal.
The strike was recorded at 57 miles per hour and, frankly, no goalkeeper in the world is saving that.
The goal brought was Olise’s 20th of the season in all competition, to go with his 29 assists, leaving him with a cool 49 goal involvements in 47 matches.
That made him the only player in Europe’s top five leagues to register 20+ goals and 20+ assists this season.
With such staggering performances and such incredible numbers, it has got me wondering, is Michael Olise Crystal Palace’s greatest export? And if not him, then who is?
In recent years, Palace have been blessed with some truly sublime attacking talents.
The triple up of Olise, Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta is surely the best in the history of the club.
Olise was excellent at Palace and it was no wonder that he attracted interest from clubs of the stature of Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
But what he has done since leaving, I’m not sure anyone could have foreseen.
Fourty goals and 52 assists in 102 matches for Bayern Munich is just incredible.
But Palace have had other top exports, Eze is one of course.
He, however, has not quite lived up to what he did at Palace and has at times struggled to earn his place in the team.
So if not Olise then who?
Well, the obvious options are Wilfried Zaha and Ian Wright.
Zaha will be in every single Palace fan’s greatest XI and for good reason, having played 458 matches for the club.
But since leaving Palace, he has not hit the numbers he did at Palace and is currently on loan at Charlotte FC from Galatasaray.
Ian Wright is probably the actual only other possible answer at this current stage, having left Palace in 1991 and going on to lift the Premier League, two FA Cups and a League Cup title with Arsenal.
He goes down as one of Arsenal’s greatest ever strikers and for that reason, many will say he should be the answer to this question.
It is hard to argue with that logic for what he did in the game, but I am going to say that in terms of sheer talent, Olise usurps Wright.
So for now, Ian Wright holds the honour of Crystal Palace’s greatest ever export but if Olise goes on to win the Champions League, excel with France at the World Cup or win the Ballon d’Or then he will take that spot.
That is of course, without even considering Marc Guehi, who looks set to have a formidable career at Manchester City.