Chelsea is courting Victor Osimhen from Napoli in a deal that may send Blues outcast Romelu Lukaku in the other direction. Osimhen has been associated with a transfer to the Premier League for a considerable amount of time; the Nigerian forward has previously been linked to Manchester United and Arsenal.
It is believed that people in the Chelsea leadership have a new striker high on their priority list. Osimhen has scored many goals for Napoli in both the Champions League and Serie A.
Lukaku, a £98 million failure, is expected to leave Chelsea this summer, and Chelsea and Napoli may work out a great double deal. The Premier League team is reportedly in negotiations with the Italian team to bring the Belgian to Naples, according to The Athletic.
Chelsea wants to sign an initial loan deal to lure Osimhen to Stamford Bridge. The 25-year-old would be eligible for purchase next summer as part of the deal.
Clubs in Saudi Arabia have expressed interest in him and are prepared to pay him a staggering wage. Still, a lot of people have said that Lukaku wants to stay in Europe. The former player for Everton and Manchester United might settle down permanently at Napoli.
Osimhen, one of Europe’s most highly regarded forwards, would be acquired by Chelsea in the meantime. The Napoli star scored 31 goals in the previous campaign and 17 goals in all competitions last year.
Despite a late charge up the table, Chelsea’s absence of a productive No 9 was made evident last season as Mauricio Pochettino’s team failed to finish in the top four. Some supporters were frustrated with Nicolas Jackson’s inconsistent play, despite the Senegal international’s 14 Premier League goals at the end of the year.
In the upcoming weeks, it is generally anticipated that new manager Enzo Maresca will bolster his offensive.
If Lukaku makes the move, he will rejoin Antonio Conte, the recently hired head coach of Napoli, after working together at Inter Milan. After signing from Inter for little under a nine-figure fee in 2021, the 31-year-old forward spent just one full season in West London during his second stint at Chelsea, which never really took off.
A year later, Lukaku returned to Inter on loan, where he played with Italian rivals Roma during the previous year. Lukaku scored 23 goals in the league over those two stints, but it has never appeared plausible that he will be added back into Chelsea’s first team.