Atletico Madrid have been actively seeking out the sale of Samu Omorodion for much of August, following the collapse of his €40m move to Chelsea – which, at the time, curtailed the arrival of Conor Gallagher. On Friday, club officials managed to finally achieve their objective, albeit in surprising circumstances.
Samu was linked with clubs in England and Spain, but he has now joined FC Porto in a deal worth €15m. Atleti announced the news on Friday evening.
💣🚨 BREAKING – OFFICIAL: Samu Omorodion joins Porto from Atlético Madrid on a PERMANENT transfer.
Good luck with everything, Samu! ❤️🤍 pic.twitter.com/1DESSHhepf
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) August 23, 2024
As per Fabrizio Romano, Atleti have retained 50% of Samu’s rights as part of the deal. However, Porto can choose to acquire a further 30% for just €10m. These clauses can only be triggered between the summers of 2025 and 2026.
💣🚨 BREAKING – OFFICIAL: In addition to paying Atlético Madrid €15m for 50% of Samu Omorodion’s rights, Porto will have 2 additional non-mandatory purchase options for 15% of the rights for €5m each, to be exercised between July 2025 and July 2026.
If Porto proceed with both,… pic.twitter.com/umTTBKj4BF
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) August 23, 2024
According to Matteo Moretto, Samu was due to join Real Sociedad instead, and they had an agreement practically closed with Atleti. However, last-minute snags allowed Porto to swoop in, and it is they that signed the 20-year-old striker.
La Real Sociedad tenía prácticamente atado a Samu Omorodion [traspaso, por el 50% de los derechos] pero no dio el paso definitivo para el cierre.
El Porto reactivó su interés por él y lo ha cerrado en gran secreto en las ultimas horas. https://t.co/reh1kLjpQl
— Matteo Moretto (@MatteMoretto) August 24, 2024
On the surface, this is not a great deal for Atletico Madrid, and it perhaps shows how desperate they were to sell Samu as part of their efforts to balance their books after a very expensive summer.
