HITC exclusively revealed in April that West Ham were amongst the club’s checking on Samu – who spent last season on-loan at La Liga side Alaves.
Both West Ham United and Chelsea are set to be in for a busy summer with both clubs making managerial changes following a poor season in the Premier League.
Julen Lopetegui will take over from David Moyes in East London whilst Enzo Maresca will replace Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.
West Ham in Omorodion talks
West Ham have opened talks with Atletico Madrid, but have initially insisted the player is part of their plans and Diego Simeone’s current plan is to include him in their squad next season.
The Spanish side are trying to sign Girona’s Artem Dovbyk, who had an outstanding season in La Liga with 24 goals, and it is understood they see him and Samu is their front-men going forward into the new campaign.
However, the huge potential profit by selling the 20-year-old that Atletico Madrid would receive is understood to have grabbed their attention.
West Ham are understood to have indicated that they are willing to pay around £27.5 million but that is fee that Atletico are not currently willing to bite on.
Chelsea rivalling West Ham for Samu deal
As mentioned, Maresca’s Chelsea are also understood to be in the race and they too are understood to have told the Spanish giants that they, too, would be willing to offer £27.5 million.
Atletico’s stance is that this is not enough money and they have also told sides from Germany and Italy including Stuttgart, Napoli and AC Milan the same, that this would not be enough to sign the forward.
HITC can confirm that whilst Chelsea asked about Samu, Atletico replied by asking about Nicolas Jackson – who they understand is unsettled and HITC sources can confirm that Jackson was one of the Chelsea squad members who was particularly upset by Pochettino’s departure.
Despite the forward being upset about Chelsea’s decision to allow the Argentine manager to leave, sources have told HITC that the club are not willing to lose Jackson.
Samu, for his part, has also changed his management in recent weeks – as he confirmed himself on X– and HITC is told that he is open to exploring his options away from Atletico, who only signed him last summer from Granada for £4.5million.
The 20-year-old is expected to be part of Spain’s Olympic squad and as it stands Atletico are insisting that a decision on him won’t be made until Simeone sees him in pre-season.
