Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel have explained why fellow countryman Victor Osimhen’s move to Chelsea fell off. The Premier League giants always wanted to sign the Nigerian. He was their top priority signing in the summer transfer window.
Osimhen had to leave Napoli this transfer window, as he was out of their squad list for the season. People in the footballing world believed Osimhen would go to the West London club. But Chelsea and Osimhen failed to reach to an agreement before the end of the deadline day on 30th August.
At this stage Osimhen had only two choices. Either stay at Italy without playing any football for the next 5 months until the winter transfer window opens. Or accept the bids from Saudi and Turkey as the transfer windows were still open in those countries.
To everyone’s surprise the 25 year old joined the Turkish giants Galatasaray on a season long loan deal, last week. He rejected to go to Saudi as he wanted to stay in Europe. However, as per reports Napoli had accepted the terms with Chelsea but the Player wasn’t happy with the salary package that was offered to him. To unlock the truth behind why the deal collapsed, Mikel Obi broken his silence in a podcast.
Mikel’s statement
John Obi Mikel have discussed about Osimhen in the The Obi One Podcast yesterday. Mikel has labelled the allegations against the player as ‘nonsense’. He said, “Victor has come under a lot of criticism about this because people don’t know the ins and outs of what happened. You need to know that before you criticize the kid. Victor really, really wanted to come to the club and he had to compromise a lot to come to the middle because we did reach an agreement in terms of the salary and other essentials.”
When he was asked on why Osimhen did not end up in England, Mikel said,
“I know what Victor wanted, I know what the club offered him, I know where we got to. We were very, very close. We were moments away from getting this deal done. But it was just a few minor details here and there that we couldn’t get over the line.”
He also added that even if they sealed the deal in the last hours, there was no time left for the medical to be done. Mikel spoke to Osimhen after all these complications. He told in the podcast that,
“He was disappointed it didn’t happen. I spoke to him when the transfer window shut and gave him a call. We spent 20 minutes talking. I consoled him saying, you need to keep working hard. I know it’s a difficult situation but I know you are strong.”
Mikel stated that Osimhen is somewhat like Didier Drogba and Diego Costa which they are missing in the club. He also mentioned that Osimhen has that kind of hunger, that edge, that bite who can intimidate defenders like Drogba and other top strikers.
Is there a future for Osimhen in West London?
Though Osimhen has joined Gala on a season long deal he can still join the Blues in the January transfer window. The deal includes a unique clause that if any of 10 listed teams by Osimhen bids for him in the winter transfer window, he can leave Istanbul to join them. The list includes European giants like Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Madrid and others.
However, it is most likely that Chelsea would get the deal done. Regarding interest in the next window for Osimhen, Mikel said in his podcast that,
“Definitely there are no issues. I think if we have to pick this back up again whether it is January or next summer, we know were we have stopped, and it’s just the little details that needs to be finalized and the deal will be done.” He also stated that we wouldn’t rest until he get Osimhen to the club. Not because Osimhen is his friend, not because he thinks of Osimhen as his younger brother, not because he is Nigerian but because he is one of the best strikers in the world.
He mentioned that Chelsea still wants Victor and Victor still wants Chelsea, so they will get the deal done sooner or later. It will be very interesting to see what the Blues do in January. As of now the Nigerian number 9 will be playing in the Turkish Super Lig until the winter transfer window opens.
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