After months of light chatter, it really seems like it’s happening.
Chelsea are closing in on Samu Omorodion, with Fabrizio Romano reporting earlier today that the Blues had agreed a €40m deal for the Atletico Madrid striker.
Now we’re really convinced he’s coming, we can dig a little deeper into what the scouts see in him. Now 20 years old, he spent last season plugging away at Alaves, where he scored 9 goals and grabbed one assist in 35 appearances despite the Basque side’s struggles.
As TransferMarkt point out in their piece, Jude Bellingham was the only under 20 to score more than that in Europe’s top 5 leagues last season. He’s not a big or glamorous name, but he’s certainly someone who is on the rise.
He’s not exactly Victor Osimhen or Benjamin Sesko in terms of profile, but our sporting directors have watched him for a long time and are clearly convinced he’s got the tools to go to their level if he’s treated right.
What Omorodion adds to Chelsea blend
Ultimately, what our scouts were looking for (and what they’re hoping they’ve found) is a player like Nicolas Jackson, able to run hard and fast, press from the front, threaten defenders both with strength and speed, and to link up with their dangerous attacking teammates.
They don’t need a pure poacher, and like Jackson, Omorodion is not that. Like the Senegal striker, he’s a proper “handful” who, on his day, can cause defences all sorts of problems with a great blend of intensity and physicality. He looks to be far better in the air than Jackson, and we can see him being used as a regular late sub to cause chaos if we’re behind in a game.
The Conference League will be where he picks up the majority of his starts, and we can see him wreaking havoc there.
