Napoli’s Victor Osimhen has long been rumoured to be a target for Chelsea amongst other Premier League clubs.
The 25-year-old Nigerian bagged a reasonably impressive 17 goals and three assists (WhoScored) in an underperforming Napoli side last season, nowhere close to the output of the previous campaign when his name seemed to be making the rounds in the transfer gossip columns almost daily.
As Football Italia note, there remains a €130m release clause for a player that’s approaching his prime as a footballer, and it would appear that the Partnopei aren’t keen to negotiate down on that price.
With Antonio Conte soon to start work as first-team coach, this potentially complicates things for the player, as the legendary Italian is unlikely to accede to his sale unless he knows he’s able to buy a reasonable replacement – Romelu Lukaku for example.
The summer transfer window has only just opened and so there is plenty of time to get a deal done, however, given the expected level of interest, it’s odd that no clubs have sought to already secure Osimhen’s services.
Indeed, the reason why there has been no movement whatsoever at this point is because not a single offer has been received by the Serie A club for the player.
As such, this means that Osimhen, despite appearing to want to continue his football career elsewhere, will be forced to join Napoli’s pre-season training which begins on July 11.
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If there is no further interest at the price quoted, the striker faces the prospect of continuing his career with his current club.
To motivate him after such a disappointment would arguably be Conte’s first big task, however, Osimhen will surely be counting on an agreement being found before the window slams shut once again.
The post The reason why Chelsea target Victor Osimhen will start pre-season training with Napoli appeared first on CaughtOffside.
