Dario Osorio continues to be linked with a move to the Premier League and Universidad de Chile legend Johnny Herrera has been informed of ‘offers’ from West Ham United and Leicester City.
Reports suggesting that Wolves had ‘agreed’ a deal to bring the Chile international to the Molineux last year may have been wide of the mark; the Express and Star adding that, while there is interest, no contact has ever been established between the two clubs.
But after being linked with a number of different Premier League clubs over the last 18 months or so – Wolves just one of them – the smart money may be on Dario Osorio finally crossing the Atlantic this summer.
Especially with Herrera, the iconic shot-stopper who spent nearly a decade at Universidad de Chile, revealing approaches from both West Ham and Leicester.
“Last year, one of the majority shareholders (at Universidad) told me that (an offer) came of £5.5 million arrived from West Ham,” Herrera tells TNT Sports.
“Now, one from Leicester for £6.7 million as well. “I know of two offers for Osorio. One last year and this one from Leicester.”
Is Dario Osorio finally heading to England?
A left-footed with two caps for the Chilean national team at the age of just 19, Osorio scored eight goals in 33 games during an excellent breakthrough campaign in 2022. He has been likened to, among others, Gareth Bale, Raphinha and Angel di Maria.
“(Osorio’s sale will be) the largest transfer in Chilean football in more than a decade,” journalist Juan Cristobal Guarello writes in La Tercera.
“Dario Osorio is good; really good. He carries the ball well. He knows how to turn, he has power, technique and strikes hits the ball in an extraordinary way. With the right support and work he can get his full potential.
“There is talk of ten million dollars, no less. A figure that we have not seen since the time of the birth of the ‘Golden Generation’.”
Osorio is perhaps the most exciting Chilean to emerge since the era of Alexis Sanchez, Arturo Vidal and co. It remains to be seen if that £6.7 million offer from recently-relegated Leicester is enough to twist Universidad arms. Or, for that matter, if West Ham come calling again.
“In recent times, he has stagnated a bit. But, for me, it is clearly because of the position where he is playing,” says former Universidad goalkeeper Johnny Herrera; encouraging his former club to field Osorio in a wide role free of defensive responsibilities.
“I think that when he stands out more is when he plays like Gareth Bale; freer and behind a more centralised, number nine with him on the wing. He’s half a Gareth Bale lookalike.”
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