He rocked a certified heater turning up for international duty with France yesterday

Image: Getty/Richard Mille/FFF

The biggest fits, they find a way. So do the hottest watches. And Michael Olise knows all about it. In September, the new France football manager Zinedine Zidane banned his players being photographed in wild outfits on their way to training. (Booo!) Yet that edict doesn’t seem to have completely held – yesterday, we got a flurry of pics of the squad assembling at their base in Clairefontaine. Was Olise crushing it? Olise was crushing it, in an all-black fit with a footie star’s now-obligatory accessory: a big old Hermès bag.

Also, peeking under his sleeve, a Richard Mille RM 67-01. We all know the France and Bayern Munich man is particular about his gear: during the World Cup, he left football boot–sponsorship money on the table and, unlike practically all of his fellow players, instead relied on his personal rotation. So unsurprisingly there’s a lot of personality on his wrist too. Footballers love their Richard Milles, of course, but the RM 67-01 is especially noteworthy.

It’s styled as an “extra flat” piece, and is indeed pretty slim, at just 3.6mm thick. While many of the brand’s designs are more macho, complex pieces, this one doesn’t have too much going on besides the time (without a second hand) and a date indicator. Plus a snazzy little function indicator, which indicates whether the crown is in right position for winding, date-setting or hand-setting. Strictly necessary? No. But it’s a nice bit of horological flair, appropriate for a guy whose on-pitch flair we really don’t need to emphasise.

Michael Olise spotted off the field.

Image: Getty/Richard Mille/FFF

The RM 67-01 also has a fan in Lamine Yamal, who’s been wearing it recently on occasions including last month’s Ballon d’Or, and talented guys as diverse as Jay-Z and John Malkovich. (Also, Kendall Roy in Succession, fittingly given that actor Jeremy Strong is an IRL RM obsessive.) Olise getting involved too makes sense, given silkiness and style is what he’s all about – on and off the pitch.

It also marks one of the first times we’ve seen him wear something really striking – and he’s put his own stamp on it with a baby blue rubber strap. (Lamal has worn his with a pale pink strap, so pastels are obviously of-the-moment for high-end footie horology.) Count on Michael Olise to make a sizzling debut like this. And if Zidane continues to be as flexible with Les Bleus’ style flexes as he seems to be right now, maybe we can count on a bit more hot wrist action to come from one of his best players.