Victor Osimhen’s situation was a hot topic in the footballing world from the beginning of the summer transfer window . The Nigerian striker was one of the key players for Napoli in their Scudetto triumph in 2022-23 season. This was Napoli’s first league trophy in 33 years since the Maradona days.
Since then top European clubs were interested to sign Osimhen. Chelsea were one of the favorites on that list.
The Blues always considered Osimhen their first priority signing as they were facing problems upfront. Osimhen would have been a perfect player for Chelsea as he was very clinical with his finishing and headers.
He could have had a great link-up with Chelsea’s starboy Cole Palmer. New signing Pedro Neto is a threat at the left and provides some brilliant crosses into the box. Enzo’s long balls are always a threat for the oppositions. With all this quality and Osimhen’s awareness, the Blues could have had a dream squad.
So Chelsea were very desperate to sign the 25 year old striker. They were always in contact with Napoli and the player’s camp.
Though the Chelsea-Osimhen saga was always on the headlines throughout the transfer window, it was never finalized till the end.
Reason behind the collapse
Osimhen always had a dream of playing in the Premier League. So last season he asked the club for a move away, but it was denied. As he was unhappy with the clubs decision, a controversy took place regarding the club’s social media handle.
In a away game against Bologna last September, Osimhen missed a penalty. He was substituted early after the penalty miss by manager Rudi Garcia. He was not happy with the decision so he reacted angrily. The club’s Tiktok handle then mocked him in a post later that day because of his behavior.
This controversy added fuel to the fire in the mind of the Nigerian. Osimhen was desperate to leave Napoli this window as he rejected to extend his contract. Napoli was not happy with the decision and rather letting him go for free in 2025, they decided to sell him this window.
Chelsea did manage to convince Napoli with the negotiations related to the release clause. But Osimhen never agreed on the terms as Chelsea were offering lesser wages than he was earning at Napoli. They are paying Osimhen £207,000-a-week currently, where as the Blues offered him a £130,000-a-week salary.
Despite having a dream to play in the Premier league, the Nigerian striker wasn’t willing to have an extreme pay-cut. He decided to wait and explore further options. However, the huge release clause of £110m set by Napoli seemed to be a major problem for the player. Most of the clubs around the world will not consider to pay that amount.
Chelsea were positive about the fact that Osimhen would contact the club later in the transfer window. But it never happened, and now the deal is off.
Chelsea were worried with the situation regarding Osimhen’s decision. So they started monitoring other options to strengthen their attack. In the last hours of the window Chelsea managed to sign Jadon Sancho on a loan deal from Manchester United.
What lies ahead for Osimhen
Napoli has already excluded Osimhen from their Seria A squad list. They gave his number 9 to new signing Romelu Lukaku. As per Fabrizio Romano relationship between the player and the club is completely broken.
Current Napoli manager Antonio Conte is happy with the club signings of Romelu Lukaku and Scott Mctominay. But he stated that he wanted to end the situation going on with the Nigerian striker as soon as possible.
In the past few days Saudi side Al-Ahli were continuously pushing for the Osimhen deal.
Osimhen and Ahli reached an agreement on personal terms related to wages. However, Napoli was not convinced during negotiations. But on the last day of the transfer window, Napoli agreed to the terms.
The 25 year old striker never really wanted to go to Saudi. That is why Osimhen didn’t give them green light for the deal. He believed Chelsea would offer him a higher salary package before the end of the window.
Meanwhile, Ahli signed Ivan Toney from Brentford for a way lesser amount to meet their offensive needs. The Saudi side would not negotiate with Osimhen further as they only planned on singing one of the two strikers.
After the summer transfer market closes, if Saudi,Turkish,Portuguese or Dutch league teams makes no move within the next 3 days, Osimhen will have to stay at Napoli. He will not be in the first team-squad. So until the opening of the winter transfer window in January Osimhen will not be playing any football.
It would be interesting to see what happens in the next 72 hours in Saudi or Turkish camps as most interests are coming from there. Osimhen would be desperate to have a club before the window closes.
A trusted source on ChelseaNews.comFor more football updates, make sure to follow us on:
