Victor Osimhen is said to be a hot name on the transfer market this summer.
The Athletic have reported that the Nigerian is the favorite to replace Kylian Mbappé at Paris Saint-Germain, and local Naples newspaper Il Mattino have further reported that the 25-year-old is close to a move to the French capital.
But now there may be a turning point.
Late on Saturday, Italian transfer guru Gianluca Di Marzio reports that Chelsea have made initial contact with Napoli regarding signing Osimhen.
According to the information, the London club wants to pay around 80 to 90 million euros (931 million-1.04 billion kroner) plus Romelu Lukaku and an academy player for Osimhen. Which youth player is not clear from the data.
It would not be the first time that Chelsea spent billions on a player. “The Blues” paid 123 million euros (1.43 billion kroner) for Enzo Fernández, 133 million euros (1.55 billion kroner) for Moisés Caicedo and 89 million euros (1.03 billion kroner) for Michajlo Mudryk.
Lukaku is currently on loan at Napoli’s rivals Roma, but there are many indications that Roma neither want nor will be able to sign the Belgian permanently. At the same time, Napoli’s new sporting director, Giovanni Manna, is said to be a big fan of Lukaku and wanted to sign the 30-year-old when Manna worked at Juventus.
In addition, the players’ wishes are currently unclear. Di Marzio believes that Chelsea’s contact was to understand the possibilities for a possible transfer, where much will also depend on the will of Napoli’s new coach who will be hired this summer.
At the time of writing, Di Marzio believes that Stefano Pioli (Milan), Vincenzo Italiano (Fiorentina), Antonio Conte (clubless) and Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta) are the hottest candidates for the job,
Osimhen has accounted for 16 goals and four assists in 29 appearances this season. Lukaku, in turn, has accounted for 19 goals and four assists in 43 appearances.