Chelsea have ‘genuine’ interest in Omorodion

Chelsea are interested in Atletico Madrid Spanish striker of Nigerian descent Samu Omorodion as the Blues continue their search for a new centre forward this summer, Fabrizio Romano has reported.

The 20-year-old Spaniard is coming off a promising season on loan at Alaves, where he scored nine goals in 35 appearances in La Liga.

Seen as one of the top attacking talents in Spain, Omorodion has a release clause of £67m (€80m), according to Romano, as Chelsea are keen to negotiate in an attempt to lower Atletico’s demands.

The Blues are hunting for a new striker after appointing manager Enzo Maresca – Omorodion is seen as an alternative to Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran, who is also targeted by Chelsea.

The London club aim to bring in a new forward to compete with Nicolas Jackson, who had a shaky start to life at Stamford Bridge last season and failed to convince he is a guaranteed starter.

Maresca will be keen to bring in more firepower to kick off his Chelsea tenure in style after the Blues missed out on the top four again and are set to compete in the Europa Conference League next year.

Romano, speaking on his YouTube channel, suggests that Chelsea ‘like’ Omorodion, but are considering other options, including Jhon Duran.

The transfer expert stated, “The player has a release clause in his contract, €80 million. This is the value of the clause. For Samu Omorodion, Chelsea obviously have no intention to pay that kind of money, so the only way to make it happen for Chelsea is to find an agreement with Atletico Madrid, not triggering the clause in his contract.

“But Chelsea’s interest is genuine, Chelsea like the player. Let me clarify, what I’m hearing tonight is that he is not the only one, because Chelsea keep considering other options. Among these options, there is also Jhon Duran.”

Omorodion, who joined Atletico from Granada only 12 months ago, is yet to make an appearance for Diego Simeone’s side but received praise from the Spanish manager for his performances last season.

Described as ‘humble and hardworking’, the striker of Nigerian descent has shown promising progress over the last year and could be rewarded with a chance at one of Europe’s top clubs this summer.