In the late hours of Sunday, Chelsea called its near-completion deal to sign Atletico Madrid striker Samu Omorodion due to undisclosed reasons.
A report that circulated on the internet suggested that the Spanish striker had failed the medical that would guarantee his new position at the London club. Other reports suggested that the Spanish striker had denied Chelsea the 50% access to his right. The strike has been seen as a devaluation, the reports suggest.
Chelsea has been keen on signing the 20-year-old Samu since the beginning of the year. When Chelsea first inquired about the terms for signing the strike, the club was adamant about letting speak on the sale of the Spanish striker. Still, it changed its stance after the club’s interest in signing English midfielder Conor Gallagher and argentine forward Julian Alvarez, who is billed to switch from Manchester City after winning Coppa America with the National team.
In the last days of last week, all three deals that were believed to be interconnected were going fine, with all clubs hopeful that the deals would be completed in days. Still, the turnout of events relating to the Samu Omorodion has kept the deals far from completion.
Samu, before collapsing the deal with Chelsea, was set to sign a seven-year deal with the London club.
It believed Atletico Madrid, as a matter of urgency, needed to sanction several outgoings to get enough funds to finance the transfer of Gallagher and Alvarez. Reports indicate that the two soon-to-be former Premier League players arrived in Madrid. While Gallagher has completed his medical, Alvarez will be undergoing his on Monday after his arrival. The deal for both players is expected to cost Atletico well in excess of £100m
On Sunday night, popular sports journalist Fabrizio Romano reported that after the deal for Samu collapsed, Chelsea had started negotiations for the deal to bring back Portuguese forward Felix to the club. Felix is not new to Chelsea. He had spent the second part of half of the 2022/23 season on loan at Stamford Bridge. The forward was almost staying back at the club, but the former coach Pochetino was believed not to like Felix’s style of play.
His agent, Jorge Mendes, arrived in London on Sunday to begin discussions for the transfer of Felix. The agent has also facilitated the transfer of Pedro Neto, who was announced during the club’s last preseason game on Sunday afternoon.
The Portuguese forward has now returned to Atletico for the club preseason game after spending the 2023/24 campaign at Barcelona, but La Blaugrana is not in a strong enough financial position to take him back for a permanent deal. In the early days of the transfer window, Felix was linked with a transfer to Aston Villa, who showed interest but have failed to strike a deal with the club.
Felix’s deal is believed to be completed within the week before the transfer of Conor Gallagher is completed. The transfer has made Chelsea fans criticise the board for the bad treatment of academy graduates at the club.
