Coming off an incredible 2025/26 season for both club and country, Michael Olise is currently one of the best in the business. Just like his fantastic displays on the pitch, the winger is also well-known for his persona off it.
Olise prides himself in being a bit different to the average footballer, be it in terms of his quirky style statements or even his social media habits.
His unorthodox style choices were on full display at the FC Bayern training ground earlier this week, as he was spotted wearing five-toed shoes during a recovery session, instead of regular running shoes.
This quickly became a major talking point on social media, and many fans took subtle shots at Michael Olise, claiming he had taken his fashion statement a step too far this time around.
“OML 😭😭 who tf told that man that’s tuff🙏 😭,” a fan wrote.
“I’m exhausted of his dressing choices lately,” another supporter commented.
“He walking around in socks,” another fan stated.
“What the hell is he wearing,” another supporter posted.
Though these shoes weren’t a hit with the fans, it turns out this type of footwear actually has plenty of functional benefit for an athlete.
As is evident in the image, these shoes feature individual pockets for each toe to mimic the natural dynamics of being barefoot while providing essential sole protection. The pair Olise is sporting is known as the Vibram FiveFingers, priced between €50 and €200 depending on model and intended activity.
Wearing such shoes on a regular basis allegedly improves athleticism and explosiveness. Regular running shoes over-support the arch of the foot, compensating for the surrounding muscles and making them weak as a result. Wearing such barefoot shoes ensures all the muscles of the foot work as they were always intended to, and this could offer marginal but important advantages for a footballer.
Other important attributes for an athlete, such as balance and agility, are also marginally improved by training in five-toed shoes consistently over a long period of time.
Though it looks to be a rather eccentric way of improving one’s footballing ability, it seems to be working quite well for Michael Olise, as the Frenchman put on a stunning performance in Bayern Munich’s season-opening clash against Stuttgart of Friday.
Olise scored his first goal of the 2026/27 season in the game’s 55th minute, leading the Bavarian giants to a comfortable 5-1 win. He also had another goal disallowed for a marginal offside call, and was heavily involved in pretty much everything of note that Bayern did from an attacking standpoint.
After helping his team get their title defence off to the perfect start, Olise also won the Man of the Match award, securing 65% of the post-game fan vote.
