The extent to which Chelsea came to sign Victor Osimhen has been disclosed by former player John Obi Mikel.
In an attempt to challenge Nicolas Jackson, the Blues looked elsewhere in the summer and had their sights set on the Napoli striker. With 26 goals to help the team win its first Serie A title in 33 years in 2023, Osimhen, 25, is considered one of the top strikers in international football.
Even if Romelu Lukaku was a hero in Naples, manager Antonio Conte had already reconciled with the Chelsea exile, so the Italian team anticipated profiting from their star attacker. As part of their most recent transfer revamp, the West London club had the chance to sign Osimhen, but the move fell through before Deadline Day, with rumours blaming Osimhen’s pay demands.
Instead, the Nigerian international unexpectedly signed a season-long loan with Turkish powerhouse Galatasaray following his signing of a contract deal with Napoli. Osimhen and the club engaged in transfer negotiations, and Mikel has stated that the striker was just hours away from joining Chelsea.
“I am aware of Victor’s desires. On The Obi One podcast, the Chelsea hero stated, “I know what the club offered him.” “I am aware of where we ended up; both parties had to make concessions.
We had limited time and had to deal with paperwork, medical matters, and a few other concerns that we were unable to resolve. It just didn’t work the one time you wanted the minutes, hours, and seconds to slow down a little.
“I believe that all parties contributed significantly to closing the deal, and I applaud Chelsea for that, as I can see their ambition for the future of this club,” Mikel continued.
Victor believes that we know where we are if we need to bring this up again, whether it is in January or the summer of the following year. We are aware of our stopping point; all that is left to do is settle a few details, and the deal will be completed. Therefore, in my opinion, Victor and the club are in a really happy situation, and so is Victor.
After Osimhen’s first Nigerian call-up in 2017, when the former Chelsea midfielder was captain of the national team, Mikel and the striker became friends. The attacker for Napoli had the option to sign with Al-Ahli, a Saudi Arabian team that eventually signed Ivan Toney, but he chose to stay in Europe. Mikel, though, has maintained that Osimhen had no intention of joining Galatasaray.
Mikel stated, “He was disappointed it didn’t work out.” “I called him right after the transfer window closed, and we spoke for about 20 minutes.”
“Listen, I’m always here for you,” I informed him. Maintain your focus, work ethic, and workout regimen. Although the circumstances are not ideal at the moment, you are resilient.
