Chelsea could be ruing their failure to sign Samu Omorodion Aghehowa after Porto slapped an eye-watering £85million price tag on the striker. Aghehowa, 21, was on the brink of moving to Stamford Bridge from Atletico Madrid last summer before the deal collapsed at the last minute over personal terms.

At the time, Chelsea were set to pay just £34.5m. The Blues wanted to find a striker who could give Nicolas Jackson competition for the No.9 role.

Instead, Porto ended up securing 50 per cent of the the Spaniard's rights on a five-year contract for just £12.8m. Since his move to Portugal, Aghehowa has scored 27 goals in 45 games to more than double his value.

Portuguese newspaper O Jogo report that Newcastle and Aston Villa both showed interest in signing Aghehowa but were put off after being told to fork out his £85m release clause. Atletico would be entitled to half of that fee, although Porto have the option to buy an additional 15 per cent of his rights for £4.25m.

Aghehowa made his debut for Spain in November and featured in this summer's Nations League finals before scoring twice at the Club World Cup. It all could've been very different for the 21-year-old at the club level had he joined Chelsea, although he doesn't have any regrets about how things transpired.

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"It was a very complicated summer," Aghehowa told Marca. "When I was at Atletico Madrid, I had a very bad time. In the end, thank God everything went well. If Chelsea didn't work out, it was for a reason and in the end everything went well."

The Spain international, who came through the ranks at Granada, never made an appearance for Atletico and spent the 2023-24 campaign on loan at Deportivo Alaves, bagging eight goals in 35 appearances to pique the interest of clubs around Europe. Aghehowa returned to Madrid for pre-season but it was clear that his future wasn't at the Wanda Metropolitano.

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"There - at Atletico Madrid - I trained apart," he revealed. "I didn't feel like a participant or like a footballer. I trained and my head told me no. I had a hard time.

"I spent many nights crying… my family and my mother had a very bad time… In the end, thank God, everything was closed quickly and I made the best decision.

"No one at the club spoke to me (about the situation) and I didn't speak to anyone. I already knew the club's stance. These are things that happen in football and gain you experience & learn for the future."

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