Chelsea target breaks silence on €40m bid and Maresca's 'love'

Tom Weber

Updated: 10 Jul 2024 21:31 BST
4 min read

Chelsea target Samu Omorodion has broken his silence on his future and the Blues' failed attempts to sign him.

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The striker enjoyed a breakout season on loan at Deportivo Alaves last term and was rewarded with a call-up to Spain's Olympic selection. In his first campaign of regular LaLiga football, the 20-year-old netted nine times.

While not the most spectacular of returns, it was enough to put the towering centre-forward on the map of elite clubs and recruitment chiefs around Europe are in agreement that he is potentially a special talent.

This fact, of course, has attracted the attention of Chelsea, who have made it their mission under Todd Boehly to snap up the brightest prospects in world football. To that end, the Blues launched a €40 million bid for Omorodion a few weeks ago, but the offer was swiftly rejected by his parent club Atletico Madrid.

The capital side are not keen to sell and are said to be holding out for at least €80m, while it has also been rumoured that Chelsea recently made a fresh offer despite having already signed Omari Kellyman and Marc Guiu. LaLiga transfer expert Matteo Moretto has revealed that the Blues and new coach Enzo Maresca 'absolutely love' Omorodion.

Omorodion on his future

Now, the man himself has spoken about his future. While preparing for the Olympics, the 20-year-old talked to MARCA and addressed all the speculation and rumours.

"I have seen that the people at Atletico have supported me a lot," the youngster said. "I am very grateful for the support they have given me throughout the year. I have also had a lot of support from the club, they told me to stay calm, that they believed in me. That is very gratifying for a player."

When probed on Chelsea's €40m bid, he responded: "These are market issues, I don't control those things. They are prices that are set and whether they are exorbitant or not, I don't know, but I don't get involved in that, I don't care at all, I always want to get the best for myself and right now I'm focused on Atletico."

© IMAGO - Samu Omorodion in action against Barcelona's Pau Cubarsi

"Whether you like it or not, you find out [about rumours] in the end because they are everywhere, your family and loved ones tell you about it. I always say to ignore it because the truth is only known to me and in the end, I ignore the subject."

"I have people who work for me and speak on my behalf. I'm calm about that subject, I try to isolate myself from everything because otherwise it's too much stress for me, and I'm young after all."

Right now, Omorodion is fully focused on Atleti and he says that he can't wait to play with stars like Antoine Griezmann and Koke. "It's a dream for me to play alongside these players. A year ago, I saw them on TV and I said that I wish I could play with people like that. It's the result of the work I've done over all these years and I'm very happy."