Chelsea
are understood to have activated Crystal Palace forward Michael Olise's
release clause.
The clause thought to be £35m. Chelsea can now speak to the player to
discuss personal terms and conduct a medical.
The decision rests with Olise if he wants to talk to Chelsea.
The 21-year-old is currently out injured after having surgery on a torn
hamstring sustained playing for the France U21s.
Speaking last week on the eve of the new Premier League season, Roy Hodgson
admitted he was unsure whether Olise would remain at the club this summer
and said the forward's future is "totally out of my hands".
Treble winners Man City are also thought to be interested in Olise, who was
involved in 13 Premier League goals last season after providing 11 assists
and netting twice.
Olise's strong form saw him win the Palace players' Player of the Season
award, while he has three years left on his Eagles contract.
When asked how confident he is that Olise will stay at Palace, Hodgson
exclusively told Sky Sports News: "No one knows really at this moment in
time.
"If there are clubs who are desperately or seriously preparing a bid and
tempting him away then he'll have a decision to make.
"I can only wait and see if there are clubs who are going to come in and
make those bids and tempt him away, and in that situation what decision is
he going to make, because he also knows that we are really very keen to keep
him here.
"We really believe this is a good place for him and that we can provide him
with a very good platform to go forward in his career.
"But unfortunately these matters are totally out of my hands - everything
will depend I suppose on what happens in the future.
"You can never be certain as a manager that the players you've got, you like
and you want are always definitely going to stay because we have a transfer
market.
"I can only hope that transfer market doesn't on this occasion punish us by
persuading one of our very, very important key players to move."
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