Chelsea are still the top contender to sign Victor Osimhen. The Blues had set their eyes on the Nigerian forward since 2022. As Osimhen helped Napoli to win the Scudetto after 33 years. In that season the 25-year-old striker scored 26 goals in 32 appearances in the Seria A. Since then he became a top priority target for big clubs around the world. But controversies destroyed the relationship between the player and club’s camp.
Osimhen was forced to leave Italy this summer. As Napoli excluded him from their 2024-25 season squad list. Chelsea was very close to sign the striker this summer. But some minor issues stopped the deal to happen. But Osimhen managed to find a club until the end of the season, which will also help Chelsea to sign the Nigerian in January. Osimhen has joined Turkish side Galatasaray on a year long deal, which includes a unique clause.
Osimhen’s revised release clause to help Chelsea
This clause will allow Osimhen to join any of the top 10 clubs listed by him, if they offer a deal. The list includes clubs like Chelsea, Liverpool, PSG etc. Both Napoli and Osimhen had to sacrifice some things to make this happen. For Osimhen, he signed a new deal until 2027 with Napoli, which will give the club some authority over the player. And they will also get the transfer fee if the Nigerian joins any other club.
On the other hand, Napoli had to lower the transfer clause of Osimhen, so that the Nigerian forward can go to his preferred club. As most of the clubs were hesitating to pay the huge £108.6million release clause of Osimhen. The revised amount is estimated at £62.7million. It will surely boost Chelsea’s opportunity to sign Osimhen in January.
The Blues asking a bargain fee for Osimhen
Maresca’s side are again ready to place a bid for Osimhen in January. As per the reports of Teamtalk, the amount is valued at around £40million. Which is almost the one third of Osimhen’s actual release clause. Before the agreement between Napoli and Osimhen occurred.
The current release clause being around the mark of £60million, Napoli would not want to lower the price any more. If Osimhen wouldn’t have agreed to sign a new deal until 2027 then Napoli could have agreed for that price. As they wouldn’t have took the risk of letting Osimhen go for free next summer.
In this situation the Italian giants would not be tempted by Chelsea’s offer. As PSG is also in the race to sign the striker and they can introduce a higher bid than the London based club. It will be interesting to see what happens in January as Chelsea is not yet ready to give up on Osimhen.
Chelsea current strikers
Chelsea currently have 3 to 4 options in the number 9 spot. With Nicolas Jackson holding the main striker role so far this season. He has started in all the six Premier League’s games so far this season. Jackson has already scored 4 goals and registered 3 assists to his name in those games.
On the other hand Christopher Nkunku has found his form back under Maresca this season. The Italian has used Nkunku as a number 9 recently, in the absence of Jackson in the Carabao cup against Barrow. Where he scored a hat-trick to win the game for the Blues. And it is also rumored that Nkunku will be continue to play as a striker this season to compete with Jackson.
Other than those two, João Félix & Marc Guiu are also a great option coming off the bench for the Blues. Félix is a very versatile finisher, who can also play in both the right and left side. And new signing Guiu can also come in handy in the Carabao cup or FA cup matches, as it would be difficult for him to find a spot in the Premier League games amongst those names mentioned above.
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