Chelsea have agreed a £34.5m deal with Atletico Madrid for striker Sami Omorodion. The 20-year-old moved to Atletico form Granada for £5m last summer and leaved the club having never played a game under Diego Simeone as he spent last season on loan at Alaves. The Blues have been keen on Omorodion – who got eight La Liga goals last term – since January and reportedly had a £27.4m bid rejected for the striker in June.....CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE
But The Athletic now claim a £34.5m deal has been struck and Omorodion will sign a seven-year contract with the option of a further year that would run until 2032, with the finer details still being worked on.
Conor Gallagher is moving the other way and will undergo a medical on Thursday ahead of signing a five-year deal with Atletico after they agreed a £36m fee with Chelsea.
It’s claimed Atletico’s progress in their deal to sign Julian Alvarez from Manchester City led them to soften their stance on Omorodion. Atletico have agreed a deal worth up to £81.8m with City for Alvarez.
The report adds that negotiations between Chelsea and Napoli for Romelu Lukaku and Victor Osimhen are expected to continue despite the deal for Omorodion.
Lukaku is desperate to reunite with Antonio Conte in Napoli this summer, but Chelsea are refusing to reduce their £38.5m asking price for the Belgium international, which the Serie A side are struggling to reach.
The Blues remain keen on Osimhen but aren’t prepared to meet Napoli’s €100m demand due to their FFP concerns, meaning they would prefer a season-long loan for the Nigerian.
In their bid to alleviate financial concerns Chelsea continue to try to sell academy players for pure profit and Trevoh Chalobah has reportedly caught the eye of Crystal Palace as a possible replacement for Marc Guehi.
Guehi is Newcastle’s top centre-back target and their interest has forced Palace into scouring the market for a replacement.
The Telegraph claim Chalobah – who was left off Chelsea’s pre-season tour of the United States – is ‘one option being given serious consideration’, along with Wolfsburg’s Maxence Lacroix, who has the benefit of previously working under Palace head coach Oliver Glasner.
Chalobah has been training with the club’s development squad having been left behind by Chelsea and is expected to continue to train away from the first-team squad as the Blues entertain offers from elsewhere for his services.
The centre-back turned down a move to Nottingham Forest last year and has four years remaining on his Chelsea contract.
The 25-year-old is ‘liked by a number of clubs but is yet to receive any firm offers’ as Chelsea hold out for £25m.
