Gareth Southgate faces battle with THREE nations including France to convince Michael Olise to play for England

ENGLAND coach Gareth Southgate faces a battle to convince Crystal Palace idol Michael Olise to represent the Three Lions.

The winger has been in incredible form for Crystal Palace this season, and it has gone unnoticed at club and international stage.

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According to MailOnline, Southgate is competing with THREE other countries, including France, to convince Olise of his international future.

It is reported that the 20-year-old is ’tilted towards staying with France, the team he has represented at Under-18 level’.

Olise’s dad is Nigerian while his mother is French-Algerian, so he has even more options about where his future will be.

The former Reading star last played for France Under-18s three years ago, and was named in Nigeria’s reserve list for Afcon, but never made it into the official squad.

Negotiations are said to be ‘ongoing’, with Southgate not giving up hope he can convince Olise to give up his allegiance.

Palace are facing a battle to keep their idol this summer.

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Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Lille and Bayern Munich are among the exciting 20-year-old Eagles followers.

Palace have prevented a coup by luring several of the bigger and European Prem clubs to sign him from Reading in a £8m deal in July.

But the south Londoners were already staring at the prospect of losing him in the next window following his increasingly impressive performances for them this season.

The Hammersmith-born rookie has only made 21 appearances on the top flights, with 12 of those being reserves.

But the way he has settled seamlessly into Premier League football has made him on the radar of a number of clubs at home and abroad.

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