Michael Olise: Why ‘box-office’ €200m star is Salah’s natural Liverpool heir

Robin Bairner

Updated: 26 Mar 2026 14:01 GMT
6 min read

Mohamed Salah, Michael Olise, Liverpool, 2025/26 — © IMAGO

Mohamed Salah’s announcement that he will leave Liverpool in the summer has sent the transfer rumour mill into overdrive, but while numerous players are linked with a move to Anfield, only Michael Olise is positioned to replicate the Egyptian King’s stunning output.

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The challenge of replacing Salah at Liverpool is an unenviable one. Although he’s not been close to his best this season, the 33-year-old will depart the club as the Reds’ third all-time top scorer with two Premier League titles and a Champions League under his arm, as well as a significant haul of other titles.

His output has defined an era at Anfield and to expect a young player like Yan Diomande, Yankuba Minteh or even a Bradley Barcola to replace him seems unfair.

Current ETV

Michael Olise

M, AM (R)

Bayern

Michael Olise

M, AM (R)

Bayern

ETV Range

€115.4M - €141M

Olise to Liverpool would be ‘box-office’ – Owen Hargreaves

Olise has shown over 18 months at Bayern Munich that he has what it takes to at least approximate Salah’s incredible Anfield impact.

“To replace Mo is going to be hard and cost a lot. You need somebody very special,” former Bayern Munich and England midfielder Owen Hargreaves told TNT Sports.

“I think if you’re Liverpool you have to go for ready, tried and tested, and for me that would be somebody of the calibre of Olise. If you are talking Olise on the right for Liverpool that is box office.”

© IMAGO - Michael Olise: The 'box-office' signing Liverpool need, says Owen Hargreaves

‘No wonder Liverpool want record-breaking Olise’

Olise passes the eye test comprehensively. Since leaving Crystal Palace for Bayern Munich in a €53m deal, he has confirmed the potential that was evident during his time in the Premier League.

Harry Kane gets most of the headlines in the English-language media, mainly because of the nation on his passport, but the Bundesliga's best player isn't the Three Lions striker,” Bundesliga expert Ronan Murphy explained to FootballTransfers.

“Michael Olise has been simply sensational at Bayern Munich, becoming the world-class winger they have long desired. The former Crystal Palace widemen is Bayern's best winger since Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, exceeding the club's hopes and consigning the likes of Sadio Mane, Leroy Sane and Kingsley Coman to the scrapheap.

“The France international is having the best season of his career to date, and looks like he will not only break Thomas Muller's Bundesliga assists record but become the player in Europe's big five leagues with the most assists in a single season. It is no wonder Liverpool want him to replace Mohamed Salah. Olise is the best winger in the world right now. Every club should want him. But only Bayern Munich can keep him.”

One of the world’s best

If anything, the case for Liverpool to move to Olise is only strengthened when the data is examined.

Data analytics firm SciSports suggests that he’s the ideal replacement for Salah – and even an upgrade on the winger at this late point in his career. There is no one better when searching among all right-wingers with an 80% similar style or greater to Salah.

It goes as far to state that Olise is presently a better player than Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal. The France international has a SciSkill, a skill rating generated from hundreds of in-game data points, of 134.2. Lamine is on 129.1.

Indeed, Olise’s figure is fourth in the world behind only club-mates Luis Diaz and Harry Kane, as well as Erling Haaland.

Liverpool the perfect destination for Olise

Liverpool is also seen as Olise’s optimal destination by SciSports’ Career Advice tool, which rates potential moves based on a variety of metrics including development, game time, playing style and formation.

The Reds score an impressive 80 – more than any other club, including Bayern, who sit on 74.

Arne Slot’s side are even handicapped by the presence of Salah in their side, which is driving down Olise’s playing time figure as things current stand. With the Egyptian departing, the London-born winger can expect this score to grow.

© IMAGO - Michael Olise, Liverpool Career Advice, 2025/26

€200m offer incoming

So Olise ticks the box in terms of quality and club fit, but the big stumbling block over a deal will be Bayern Munich’s resistance to sell a player who still has so much to offer them at the age of 24 and who remains under contract until 2029.

Liverpool are reportedly willing to spend as much as €200m to lure Olise to Anfield. This would be the second-highest fee ever paid, lagging only the €222m deal that saw Neymar leave Barcelona for PSG in 2017.

This would be an extraordinary sum and would represent the third time in the space of a year that the Anfield club had broken the Premier League transfer record, following deals that saw them sign Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak in the summer of 2025.

Olise’s Estimated Transfer Value (ETV), meanwhile, sits at €128.2m, and while it has climbed steeply since his move to Germany, Liverpool’s offer is likely to be at an above-market rate.

“We’re not giving it a second thought,” Bayern sporting director Max Eberl told Sport Bild (via Goal). “We are relaxed.”

Bayern are all too aware of Olise’s qualities, and while a €200m offer may be worthy of a replacement for Salah, even this sum may not be enough to allow Liverpool to sign a player who is so obviously the Egyptian’s Anfield heir.

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