BENGALURU: In the first week of June, Real Madrid supremo Florentina Perez made a promise to the world. If he were to retain the presidency, he would launch a 150 million euro bid to sign 'a great player'. After he won the election, it was revealed that the player in question was Michael Olise. While there have been no formal talks between Real and the irrepressible Bayern attacker yet, he's already a Galactico in the true sense of the word.
At 24, the Frenchman is at the absolute peak of his powers. Powers he has already exhibited at the World Cup: after the end of the first two rounds of the group stages, nobody has more than the three assists he has laid on for his teammates. But before the assists, before playing for France, before assisting Kylian Mbappe... is the story of a 13-year-old who had a grounding in a concept the world now recognises as Football Yoga.
One of the people who introduced him to those ideas was former Arsenal and Chelsea physio Sharon Heidaripour.
"Even at that young age, he already had a great support team around him," she tells this daily. "And I was doing a bit of strength and conditioning at the time, but it was more yoga-focused. That's how I started working with him. He was always very good. His mom used to travel with him up to North London and then go back. This was several times every week. He was very dedicated and hardworking. I can see that he's made it.
"I'm not surprised. It's taken years of dedication and hard work. Everybody could see that he was skilful on the pitch. There are so many skilful and talented players, but obviously talent alone isn't enough."
The Iranian-born Swede, who left Arsenal in 2016, founded Football Yoga following a period of travel through North America, Central America and Asia (she wants to come to India sometime soon). She had seen firsthand how yoga could play a valuable role alongside football medicine and sports science, supporting players during rehabilitation and recovery.
It was around this time that she met Olise and her mother in London (Olise, who was part of both the Arsenal and the Chelsea academies as a child, grew up in the city). Heidaripour continues. "I worked with him during his academy years and through to the latter stages of his time at Crystal Palace," she says. "Working with Michael was representative of the broader work I've done with young athletes throughout my career, helping them develop habits and tools that support both their performance and overall well-being.
"The focus wasn't simply on yoga postures. It was about introducing fundamental tools such as movement quality, breathing, recovery habits, sleep, and body awareness. The goal was to help young players understand how looking after themselves off the pitch could support their development on it."
Having a conversation about something as niche as yoga with a 13-year-old can be a challenge. It's why Heidaripour broke it down. "One thing I've learned is that you can't simply tell a 13-year-old player what to do," she explains. "Young athletes want to understand why something matters. So rather than saying 'you should do breathing exercises' or 'you need to sleep more,' I would help them understand how those habits could improve recovery, focus, performance, and overall well-being.
"It's an approach I've used not only with Michael, but with many young athletes over the years, and one that I continue to use with players at all levels today."
In the US over the last two weeks, Olise has had an immediate impact. “It’s so easy to play with Olise," Mbappe had told reporters following the Iraq game. "He makes it easier, playing with his head up. He can always see my movements. I love playing with Michael.” If Perez has his way, they will be linking up at the Santiago Bernabeu next month.
Chess, cricket and a global citizen
Olise is increasingly representative of the modern footballer with multiple interests. In his spare time, he is an avid chess fan (he has a rating of around 1500). Growing up in London, he spent many afternoons playing cricket. He could have also played international football for four countries (Algeria, England, France or Nigeria), but in the end, decided to wear the colours of the two-time world champions. "My mother is from France," he had said once in an interview.