Chelsea sent 'crazy' Samu Omorodion transfer message amid Atletico Madrid stance on sale

Chelsea have turned their attention to Samu Omorodion as the club look to bolster their attacking options ahead of the 2024/25 season.

The 20-year-old is currently at Atletico Madrid after an impressive campaign on loan at Alaves. Omorodion bagged nine goals while away from Madrid last term and has attracted the interest of Chelsea, who are after a central striker to support and provide competition for Nicolas Jackson.

Jackson featured 44 times for the Blues in all competitions last season and the club want to ease the burden on the 22-year-old for the next campaign. Talks happened between Chelsea, Aston Villa and Jhon Duran but interest in the Colombian forward has since cooled, football.london understands.

Officials at Stamford Bridge have now opened talks with Atletico over a possible move for Omorodion. However, the Spanish club, who came fourth in La Liga last term, have rebuffed any talk of a £34million offer from Chelsea.

It seems from the outside that Atleti are determined not to sell the Spaniard. Irati Prat, however, who covers Atletico for Spanish news outlet Marca, has been speaking exclusively to football.london about the Madrid club's prized asset and why they could end up selling him this summer.

"I think Atletico Madrid will sell Samu if an irrefutable offer arrives," Prat said. "They are immersed in a squad reconstruction and want names like [Artem] Dovbyk or [Alexander] Sorloth for the forward. Memphis [Depay] leaves, [Alvaro] Morata may leave... but they are aware of their potential and what they like in Europe. If it comes out, it would be for a lot of money. A 'crazy' offer of well over €40million (£33.8million)."

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At one stage, it looked as if Duran would be the man to come in at Chelsea but there were some lingering doubts over the 20-year-old's attitude, football.london understands - something that led to the club turning to Omorodion instead. There will be no such doubts over the Atleti striker's mentality and approach.

"I don't know, for now, anything negative about Samu," Prat explained. "He is someone very demanding of himself who knows that his life has completely changed in a year.

"From Granada to Atletico Madrid. I remember an interview he gave in which he talked about how he was crying because he had missed several clear chances and Alaves had lost to Las Palmas. He felt very guilty, he said. He is someone quite humble with a great desire to do well.

"He is a tremendously interesting forward who still has a lot to polish. It must be made clear that he is 20 years old and that a year ago he was playing in the Fourth Division.

"Above all, it needs to improve the definition. I think he's missing some goals right now. But he is a beast on a physical level, dominating away from the area and devastating in the open field.

"Many Atletico fans would like to see him for one season, at least. Know what it is capable of. It is true that on an economic level it would be a great operation to sell it for €40million-plus (£33.8million-plus), since it only cost €6million (£5.1million). But it has a lot of potential and has aroused the hype of the Metropolitano."

A lot of players take their time adapting to a division as physically and mentally demanding as the Premier League. Especially such a young player.

But in Omorodion's case, his physicality is already there - and he is still developing. "I think all players can adapt to the Premier League. Especially the good ones," Prat said.

"Impose your game. Samu physically dominates, so he already has a lot of gains there. He seems different to me from Nico Jackson in that, I think, he is much more self-sufficient."