This article is part of Football League World's 'The Verdict' series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more... 

Reading FC midfielder Michael Olise reportedly has an £8m release clause, according to Sky Sports.

Sky’s coverage of Reading’s draw with Swansea City last night appeared to confirm the speculation that the midfielder has his price heading into January.

Leeds United, Arsenal and Liverpool are just some of the names linked with Olise, who has four goals and seven assists in 2020/21 so far.

So, will any of that Premier League trio make a move to sign the 19-year-old in January?

Our writers discuss…

Sam Rourke  

They should be all over it.

Olise is one of the most talented young stars emerging from the EFL, and in this day and age, signing a player with this much potential at the age of 19 tends to command fees in excess of £20m, at least.

The Frenchman is a classy footballer who has a wand of a left-foot, with Reading fans becoming accustomed to his impressive passing skill-set, whilst his long-range efforts on goal have also proved fruitful this season for Paunovic's side.

It's rare to see a 19-year-old so comfortable with the ball at his feet, with his dribbling ability amongst the best in the Championship.

If this release clause wasn't in place, I'd expect the Royals to be asking for figures above £20m, you only have to look at the money that Dortmund forked out for Jude Bellingham from Birmingham.

If you're Leeds, Arsenal etc, you'd be licking your lips here.

Ned Holmes

At that price, I think it would be wise for them to snap him up.

The 19-year-old looks a really exciting talent and has been fantastic for the Royals this term.

In my eyes, big clubs like Liverpool and Arsenal should be taking a punt on Olise if he's available for £8 million because that's a fairly insignificant fee for them.

I'd love to see him under Bielsa, so Leeds should be eyeing him as a long-term replacement for Pablo Hernandez.

Opportunities like this don't come around too often, the top tier clubs should make the most of it.

 

Toby Wilding

I definitely think that Premier League clubs should be looking to pounce on this.

We have seen by the business done by these clubs recently that they all ought to be capable of affording that release clause, so it is hard to see them wanting to take advantage of that.

Olise is already showing just how good he is on a regular basis, and you feel that with plenty of time left in his career to improve further, he is ready for a step up to the Premier League sooner rather than later.

As a result, it is hard to imagine he will be available for such a relatively low price for much longer, meaning clubs should be looking to get this done before another one beats them to it, something which would then make it harder to secure his services in the future, while potentially coming back to bite them on the pitch as well.