There was a narrative in the media after the close France vs. Paraguay matchup in which Les Bleus needed a soft penalty call to barely scrape 1-0 past a side that the United States made look like a second rate squad that Paraguay did not play the game the right way and that France did great. But Real Madrid fans are too smart to fall for such narratives, having been on the receiving end of far worse treatment and referee command in La Liga from such dignitaries as Getafe, Mallorca, and Atletico Madrid over the years.
So for Real Madrid, watching Michael Olise struggle against the Paraguay low block must have been incredibly disappointing. Olise is a Ballon d'Or candidate for the 2025/26 season and is having such a brilliant 2026 World Cup alongside current starting Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe that Madridistas are getting their hopes up that Florentino Perez's dream move may actually have a slim chance at coming true.
But if Real Madrid are to pay a record 222 million euros or more for Olise from Bayern Munich, then he is going to have to play a lot better than this. Because as loathe as Madridistas are to admit to Neymar's brilliance as a Barcelona player, he was an insane player from another generation when he went for that record 222 million euro fee to PSG in 2017.
Michael Olise is not the next Neymar
Olise is a wonderful footballer, but it would take someone very dense or very new to football to argue that he is on that level. And he showed a lack of an ability to grab games as a leader, beat defenders in a low block, or make things happen against a subpar Paraguay side - it was a performance you could have never imagined 2010s Neymar having on that big of a stage.
The numbers back up the fact that Michael Olise was terrible for France vs. Paraguay; he was nothing more than a disappointing passenger of the game who showed a bad attitude with more of a victim complex than a superstar showing his superiority.
Olise offered no goal threat and barely ran for his team. He completed three dribbles with three fouls drawn but only had one key pass with no shots on target. Olise also lost the ball five times on unforced errors, negating a lot of the useless, sideways dribbles he had to rack up the positive stats in the first place.
Real Madrid should be interested in Olise. He is a tremendous footballer. But he is not a 222 million euro player, and he is tempting his fate as far as a future Bernabeu transfer goes if he keeps playing like this against inferior low blocks in big games.
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