David Ornstein now says Chelsea pulled out of running for Newcastle target Michael Olise as winger agrees summer move

Newcastle United were one of a few clubs given permission by Crystal Palace to hold talks with 22-year-old Michael Olise.

The belief was that Olise had a £60million release clause in his contract and Newcastle, along with Chelsea and Bayern Munich had been given the green light by Crystal Palace to discuss terms with the winger.

The Athletic's David Ornstein took to X tonight to report that Chelsea had held talks with Olise but ultimately pulled out of the deal as they felt that the finances involved would not work for them.

But given how quickly Ornstein followed that up with the news that Olise has agreed to join Bayern Munich, we feel it was more Chelsea trying to save face after finally being beaten to a signing by another club.

Newcastle were always up against it when it came to Olise

We're not sure how far Newcastle got or whether or not they even got to discuss terms with Olise before he made his decision.

It was always going to be a challenge for the Mapgies to get this one done given the interest from Chelsea and Bayern as well as both Manchester clubs monitoring the situation too.

Our lack of European football may have been a factor, but ultimately, the reality is we're just not in a position to compete with the likes of Bayern Munich yet.

Newcastle will have something up their sleeve

Soon we will see who Newcastle really have in their sights as there are always a few diversions before the real targets present themselves, and Olise definitely felt like a diversion.

There have been plenty of forwards who can play out on the right who have been linked with Newcastle this summer but it wouldn't surprise us if we sign someone who hasn't even been mentioned yet.

Whatever happens, the one positive out of this situation is Olise won't come back to haunt us next season if he's playing over in Germany.