By Victor Kanayo
There are indications that two top European football giants – Chelsea and PSG may be heading to a face-off in a bid to outdo each other and get Napoli star player Victor Osimhen.
Osimhen, a 25-year-old has been in fine form for Napoli, guiding the Serie A club to their first league victory in 33 years with a league-high 26 goals in 32 Serie A games last season, and 31 goals across all competitions.
Since then, clubs including those in Saudi Arabia have been on his trail.
Imminent Move
The 25-year-old reigning African Player of the Year is destined to leave the Partenopei in the summer and his circa €120m release clause has set a clear starting point for interested parties, with Club President Aurelio De Laurentiis having a reputation as a tough negotiator.
PSG are gearing up to lose Kylian Mbappe and have identified Osimhen as a strong option to bolster their frontline, whilst Chelsea are desperate to turn things around after a fairly miserable season under Mauricio Pochettino.
Blues Strategic Plans
In the past few hours, Chelsea have drawn up a plan to try and convince Osimhen to accept the move to West London in the summer, coming up with a deal that they hope will convince De Laurentiis and Napoli.
Prepared to pay the striker well over his current €10m net per season wages, the Blues are not keen to pay his release clause in full and instead are looking to pay around €80m as part of a deal that also includes Romelu Lukaku and an unnamed young player.
This may prove difficult to pull off, as Lukaku’s hefty wages are difficult to digest without Champions League qualification and De Laurentiis seems unlikely to accept anything other than the release clause.
Osimhen only signed a new contract at Napoli at the start of the year with his release clause set at around €130m, but that has not deterred interested clubs from making offers for the coveted striker.
Following impressive seasons with the Partenopeans, the Nigeria’s Super Eagles striker has emerged as one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe.
Lukaku’s Resolve
Lukaku has made it clear he does not want to remain at Chelsea and would prefer to stay in Italy, as after his loan at Inter, he spent this season with Roma.
Osimhen’s recruitment will come as a big boost for the London club who have heavily relied on Cole Palmer due to the inconsistency of Nicolas Jackson who was brought in from Villarreal last summer.
