Michael Olise: The shy star shunning the spotlight at the World Cup

Michael Olise is not your typical footballer. Born and raised in England, he is representing France at the World Cup and has been one of the tournament's standout performers. The Bayern Munich forward, who previously played for Reading and Crystal Palace, shuns the spotlight, loves chess, barely celebrates goals, and avoids interviews. He does not have a deal with any sportswear or boot companies.

After a season with 25 goals and 28 assists for the Bundesliga champions, the 24-year-old is now regarded as one of the world's best players. Going into Saturday's last-16 tie with Paraguay, Olise has become the first player to assist five goals at one World Cup since Germany's Thomas Hassler in 1994.

Early signs of talent and humility

Those who have known him since childhood say his reserved nature should not be seen as arrogance—it's just "Michael being Michael." Born in London to a French-Algerian mother, Mina, and a Nigerian father, Vincent, Olise stood out from a young age.

"The sports coaches came to me one day and said have you seen this boy... in year two?" Daniel Coker, Olise's sports teacher at Dr Triplett's CE Primary School in Hayes, London, told BBC Sport. "When I saw him play... I knew that he was going to be something special."

Coker recalled how Olise—already on Chelsea's books at the time—excelled in every sport he tried. "At age 10 and 11 that's when I'd get him in everything I could," he added. "He'd come and have a go and just blow us out the water with how good he was."

Even then, the young Olise did not like any fuss. "Michael was a quiet and shy boy. He gave so many assists to our team, he'd score loads of goals, but he didn't used to celebrate, he just used to get back straight in and want to go again," said Coker. "He's not one of those ones to dwell on it and take that moment in. He didn't like the limelight. So when I see that on camera now, when he doesn't celebrate or he runs back, it's just what he's always done."

A perfectionist on and off the pitch

Headteacher Rachel Anderson remembers it being hard to get Olise back into class after football, particularly if his team hadn't won. "He would be still kicking the ball around the classroom and it would be like, 'Come on Michael, it's enough now'," she said. "I think other schools used to sigh and look quite depressed when we turned up with Michael on our team for so many things [different sports] because they knew they didn't stand much of a chance."

"He was a perfectionist and over-analysed everything. He was a bright boy so he did well academically."

It was also at this early age that Olise, who could also have played for England, Nigeria or Algeria, showed signs he would be picking France. "Rachel said, 'Do you reckon he'll play for England?' I said, I don't know if we'll be lucky enough to have him play for England," Coker added. "I think Michael really enjoyed that French culture, he went there to visit, he liked learning the language."

Overcoming early setbacks

But it was not a straightforward path to the top. Olise's younger brother Richard, 21, is also a professional footballer, although released this summer by Chelsea—just like Michael a decade ago. Having briefly been at Arsenal, Olise spent seven years with Chelsea's academy before being released aged 14. He then had a short spell at Manchester City, but they too let him go.

Enter Reading, then in the Championship. However, Brendan Flanagan, the club's head of recruitment, said he had to persuade bosses to recruit the 16-year-old in the summer of 2018. "Because of the biases that go on in football, it took me a little bit longer to convince people in the building to bring him in because [he was] released from Chelsea, released from Man City—some people would see that as this is going to be a big problem," he told the BBC.