World Cup 2026: How Michael Ollis has become a star that avoids the limelight

Ollis’ younger brother Richard, 21, is also a professional footballer, although he was released by Chelsea this summer – just like Michael a decade ago.

After a brief spell at Arsenal, Ollis spent seven years in Chelsea’s academy before being released at the age of 14. He then had a brief spell at Manchester City, but they also let him go.

Enter Reading, then Championship.

However, the club’s head of recruitment Brendan Flanagan said he had to convince bosses to sign the 16-year-old in the summer of 2018.

“Because of the bias that goes on in football, it took me a bit longer to convince people in the building to bring him in because (he’s) released from Chelsea, released from Man City – some people will see that it’s going to be a big problem,” he told the BBC.

“Michael might be considered problematic at other clubs, because he’s quiet, he’s shy, he’s reserved, but we can work with those kids because that doesn’t make them bad kids, it makes them a little bit different.”

But Flanagan feared the Royals were going to miss out after Ollis’ mother said they needed some time to rebuild his confidence after the setback.

“He said we’re going to do some work with a consultant because he’s obviously low on confidence – he’s been released from Chelsea, released from Man City – and we just want to make sure he’s ready for you when he comes to you,” added Flanagan.

“I thought to myself, ‘That’s it, the end – the next time I see him he’ll be playing against us somewhere’.

“Four weeks later Mina called me and said we were ready to go. She was true to her word – they are such people, honest genuine people.

“He came in and we’ve never had a problem with him. He’s without a shadow of a doubt the best player I’ve ever bought in this building.”

Ollis was so eager to be on time for training that he sometimes missed the start of it.

“He would arrive at 7 a.m. for training, which started at 9 a.m., and he would be asleep in his car when training started,” Flanagan said.

Ollis made his Reading debut as a 17-year-old against Leeds in March, 2019 – just days after joining first-team training – and made 73 appearances, scoring seven goals over three seasons.

It was there that he was called up to the French youth-team set-up.

“It was no surprise that he chose France for me because they were the first to contact him,” added Flanagan.

“In that 2001 England year group, they tended to come from Manchester City, Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal, Spurs – not so much from the likes of Reading.

“Michael will be one of those who say, ‘Well they picked me first, you didn’t want me when I was younger, so I’m going there’.”