Add as preferred source on Google
As difficult as Soungoutou Magassa has found his debut season at West Ham United on occasions, at least the France Under-21 international can rest easy knowing he won’t be coming up against Michael Olise any time soon.
Olise is one of countless ‘what might’ve beens’ for West Ham. And with six goal contributions in just five Premier League meetings between Crystal Palace and their neighbours from the East, you won’t have found many Hammers fans mourning the day when Bayern Munich triggered his £50 million release clause.
Did you know we once bid £20m for Bruno Fernandes? 💸 🇵🇹
Which former target do you WISH we’d signed?
Soungoutou Magassa, who joined West Ham United from Monaco last summer, had some practice training alongside Olise in the relatively recent past.
But as Paris Saint-Germain discovered during an instant Champions League classic at the Parc des Princes during Wednesday’s unforgettable nine-goal masterclass, knowing Olise’s strengths and stopping him from exerting them are two very different things.
West Ham United’s Soungoutou Magassa is a former teammate of Michael Olise’s
Photo by MB Media/Getty Images
Magassa was speaking to French publication L’Equipe about a winger born in Hammersmith and made in Munich, via Berkshire. Former Reading starlet Olise has a staggering 20 goals and 29 assists all on his own this term.
Even if PSG’s own superstars had followed Magassa’s advice to the letter, stopping him from ripping through their backline in the French capital would still have proven well beyond even Luis Enrique’s capabilities.
“You have to stay close to him, you can’t give him any space, try to play physically,” Magassa said of Olise, one of his teammates in the France squad for the 2024 Olympic Games.
“You can’t let him settle into his comfort zone. If you can make small fouls, you make small fouls. But, above all, being as close to him as possible to try and limit his speed is important.”
The jury is OUT on Sountougou Magassa! What have you made of him so far?
What does he need to improve to nail down a starting spot?
As Olise breezed through and lashed a shot past Matvey Safonov – one of four Bayern goals on a night when PSG scored five themselves – Magassa might have marvelled at just how far his old teammate has come in the space of two extraordinary years.
Magassa has had a difficult time in English football since that £14 million move in August 2025. The West Ham fans are yet to be convinced of his worth. Fellow Frenchman Mohamadou Kante has even been preferred off the bench in recent times.
Yet, with only two goals and five assists recorded during his debut season with Crystal Palace in 2021/22, Olise’s explosion into a bonafide Ballon D’Or-worthy talent is a tale Magassa could learn a lot from. Sometimes, it just takes time for that potential to bubble its way to the surface.
Join Our Newsletter
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox