Premier League side Chelsea have had a £34m bid knocked back by Atletico Madrid for Samu Omorodion, according to reports.
The Blues have but Chelsea look set to enter the transfer market with force again this summer.
There are likely to be yet more changes over the summer with Enzo Maresca arriving at Stamford Bridge from Leicester City to replace outgoing manager Mauricio Pochettino, .
And one of their targets is Atletico Madrid striker Omorodion with the 20-year-old scoring eight goals in 34 La Liga appearances on loan at Deportivo Alaves.
However, that Atletico Madrid have discouraged the Blues from making further approaches after talks over a £34m move, including add-ons, was turned down.
will also have to sell some of their bloated squad this summer with England international Conor Gallagher heavily linked to pastures new.
And Atletico Madrid have made a cheeky offer of their own to Chelsea with Spanish journalist Eduardo Burgos claiming the La Liga side offered €20m (£17m) despite the Blues looking for a fee of around £50m.
Burgos wrote on X: Atleti asked about Conor Gallagher s availability. The red and whites launched a first informal poll of just over 20M. Chelsea rejected the proposal. Simeone is his main supporter. They will speak again after #Euro2024.
Fabrizio Romano: Chelsea s top target remains Michael Olise
And transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has now brought a huge update on the latest Chelsea transfer news, including Crystal Palace s Michael Olise remaining their top target.
Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column: Chelsea’s top target remains Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise as they try to agree personal terms with the player before then finding a solution with the club on his clause. The priority for now is the player side, so they are working to make it happen, but another top target for the club this summer is a central striker.
Chelsea have two options after missing out on Benjamin Sesko, who was a top target for them but also for Arsenal and Manchester United before deciding to stay at RB Leipzig. Let’s see if other names come into the equation for Chelsea, but for now the two targets are Jhon Duran of Aston Villa and Samu Omorodion from Atletico Madrid.
Omorodion spent last season on loan at Deportivo Alaves and he looks like a young talent with plenty of potential. He’s a physical striker, a traditional number 9, and there has been a lot of interest in him as many clubs are looking for this kind of profile this summer. West Ham already had a bid rejected for Omorodion ten days ago, and now Chelsea have also made a formal offer to Atletico Madrid, worth around €30m, plus add-ons to bring the total package to around €40m, but it was a very strong and clear ‘no’ from Atletico Madrid.
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It won’t happen for this money and that’s what Atletico Madrid told Chelsea directly, so let’s see what they decide to do now, but Atletico really want to keep the player and they believe he can do fantastically next season under Diego Simeone. But with Chelsea we never know what could happen and they could attack the situation again, with contacts still taking place on the player side.
So, Chelsea have two different options with Jhon Duran they already have the green light from the player; Duran wants to join Chelsea, and he’s said yes to Chelsea, though he also has other options. With Omorodion, he’s still very happy in Madrid and not desperate to leave he would like to wear the club’s shirt after they trusted him one year ago when he was not very well known. So that’s why Chelsea are trying to reach an agreement with the player before they try again with Atletico Madrid.
With Duran, the issue is between Chelsea and Aston Villa, with the only way to make it happen being with the inclusion of players in the deal. It could be Ian Maatsen or it could be others, but Chelsea will only go for this with players included in the deal. So Chelsea need to decide if they want to close a deal like this with Villa, because on the player side there is already the green light, or do they try again to find an agreement with Omorodion. Or they could even try to find another striker around Europe.
