- 12 hours ago
‘That kid’s a player’ – Chelsea wonderkid target caused Man Utd ‘nightmares’
Robin Bairner
- 4 Oct 2024 01:38 CDT
- 2 min read
Chelsea have been told they missed out on ‘absolutely brilliant’ Samu Omorodion after the Porto striker played a starring role for the Portuguese club as they came within a whisker of beating Manchester United on Thursday.
Omorodion scored twice for Porto in that clash, turning in a breathtaking performance of speed and power at the forefront of their attack, where he also displayed a clinical edge to his play with two excellent finishes.
His story, though, could have been very different as he was close to completing a €40 million move to Chelsea in the summer only for the deal to be called off at the last moment when it seemed that it must be done.
Instead, the 20-year-old completed a move to Porto from Atletico Madrid for just €15m.
Against Manchester United in the Europa League, Omorodion ran riot, bullying Matthijs de Ligt, the centre-back the Premier League picked up for €45m.
Current ETV
Samu Omorodion
F (C)
Porto
Samu Omorodion
F (C)
Porto
ETV Range
€12M - €19.9M
‘Omorodion caused De Ligt nightmares’
After the game, TNT Sports pundit Owen Hargreaves hailed the impact of the former Granada and Atletico Madrid hitman, who has now scored seven goals in just six appearances since moving to Porto at the end of August.
“He was too strong and too big for De Ligt,” Hargreaves, a former Manchester United, Bayern Munich and England midfielder said. “At just 20 years old, what a player he is. Good in the air.
“He was absolutely brilliant in terms of running the channels, efficient in front of goal. That kid’s a player. He caused De Ligt absolute nightmares today.”
STATS
Samu Omorodion
F (C)
Porto
Samu Omorodion
F (C)
Porto
Omorodion’s performance against Man Utd earned him an 8.4 score on FootballCritic, highlighting just how impactful he was during his 78 minutes.
While Omorodion moved to Porto, Chelsea ultimately did not recruit in attack, although they tried their hardest to sign Victor Osimhen, with a deal for the Napoli striker also falling apart at the last moment.
