Reading FC supporters will have Michael Olise regret despite Crystal Palace windfall: View | OneFootball

Supporters didn't see the best of Olise live and that's one big regret that they will have.

League One side Reading will have been delighted about Michael Olise's recent move to Bayern Munich.

The Royals had a sell-on clause when they sold Olise to Premier League side Crystal Palace, who have richly benefitted from having the France youth international at their disposal.

At Palace, the Frenchman was given a major opportunity to shine, starting regularly when fit and managing to perform wonderfully for the Eagles in the top flight.

When he left the Select Car Leasing Stadium in 2021, it was unclear whether he was going to be an impact at Selhurst Park straight away.

The Royals were managing his game time during the 2020/21 campaign, even when he was shining, so it was going to be a big assignment for Olise if he wanted to make a good first impression under Patrick Vieira.

But he did fairly well during his first season at Selhurst Park, registering four goals and nine assists in 32 competitive appearances.

Also going on to impress in his following two seasons at Palace, it was no surprise when Bayern made a move for him.

With the Berkshire side entitled to a chunk of the transfer fee, the Royals could have made around £4m or £5m from the 22-year-old's switch to Germany.

At a time when the Royals desperately need money, this windfall has probably been a huge boost.

There has always been a debate about whether the Royals should have generated more than £8m for Olise when he left the club back in 2021.

If the Berkshire side had spent money more wisely during the 2017-2019 period, it could be argued that the club may have been able to offer him better terms back in 2019, and that could have allowed the club to avoid having a fixed £8m release clause in his contract.

However, there are no guarantees that the player would have put pen to paper on a new contract if that release clause wasn't in his deal and if he hadn't signed fresh terms, the Berkshire side would have lost him for a much lower fee than £8m.

With this in mind, the club may not be to blame for Palace getting a bargain, and the fact the Royals managed to include a sell-on clause has helped to soften the blow of this low fee.

Olise had shown some promise pre-Covid.

He performed very well when he started against Birmingham City on the final day of the 2018/19 season, shining alongside the likes of Josh Barrett and Loader.

The Frenchman also did well during the 2019/20 season, with his double dragback against Leeds United making many people sit up and take notice.

However, he didn't score his first senior goal for the Royals until the early stages of the 2020/21 season, when fans were unable to come to the SCL Stadium due to Covid restrictions.

Registering plenty of goals and assists during that campaign and performing extremely well for much of the season, fans will regret the fact that they were unable to see him in the stadium.

Supporters were able to witness his brilliance through a live stream, and some fans had the chance to see him at the SCL Stadium when Covid restrictions were lifted slightly in December.

But even then, very few people were allowed in due to social distancing rules.

Fans would have loved to have seen a player of his calibre perform after a tough couple of years for the Royals, who hadn't performed up to expectations during the early stages of Dai Yongge's reign.