Chelsea are on the verge of finalizing the acquisition of Atletico Madrid forward Samu Omorodion, according to reports. The Blues had been eyeing the Spain Under-21 international earlier in the summer transfer window, with intentions of making a significant investment. However, Atletico initially rebuffed at least two offers from Chelsea after the sale of Alvaro Morata to AC Milan.
Recently, Chelsea seemed to have shifted their focus to Napoli forward Victor Osimhen, seemingly moving on from Omorodion. But in a surprising turn of events in the past few days, it appears that the deal for Omorodion to move to Stamford Bridge is back on the table.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Chelsea have reached an agreement with Atletico for a £35m deal for Omorodion. Talks were rekindled as the two clubs discussed the transfer of Conor Gallagher, who is also set to make a move to Madrid. Despite the deals being separate, Atletico now seems willing to let go of Omorodion for a lower fee than initially expected.
The negotiations have been facilitated by Chelsea’s decision to sell Gallagher for £33m, with the co-owners also reducing their previous asking price. Omorodion will now be vying for a starting position at Chelsea alongside Nicolas Jackson and potentially Marc Guiu, even though he hasn’t featured for Atletico and only scored eight goals in 35 appearances for Alaves in the 2023-24 season.
However, the completion of Omorodion’s transfer is said to be contingent on Atletico finalizing the big-money signing of Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez. Atletico have put forth a package worth €75m (£64.32m) for Alvarez, who is reportedly seeking a new challenge. If the deal goes through, Alvarez could fill the void left by Morata in Diego Simeone’s team, making Omorodion’s move to Chelsea a mere formality.
