Chelsea ‘set to make Victor Osimhen their top target with Napoli striker open to move’… but £100m price tag could scupper January deal
- Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino wants to add a striker to his squad
- Napoli expected to demand more than £100 million for striker Victor Osimhen
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Victor Osimhen will be Chelsea’s top target, and the Napoli striker is said to be open to joining them.
Osimhen guided Napoli to the Serie A title, scoring 31 goals in all competitions last season and has continued his good form this season.
And the Blues want the Nigeria international, 24, to strengthen their attacking line after a tepid start to the season. according to the Telegraaf.
Napoli chairman Aurelio Di Laurentiis is expected to demand more than £100 million and that could prevent a January deal.
But with Christopher Nkunku injured, Nicolas Jackson only just hitting his stride and Armando Broja still learning his trade, Chelsea could spend a lot of money to force their way into the top four races.
Chelsea want to make Victor Osimhen their main target as they enter the market for a striker
Mauricio Pochettino is looking to add a striker to his squad, with Osimhen at the top of his list after his three seasons in Serie A.
Napoli will hope to keep him at least until the summer and summer Evening standard claim Chelsea will not finalize their January transfer plans until mid-December.
However, Osimhen is apparently troubled and has a deteriorating relationship with the club and fans.
In September, Osimhen was the subject of two controversial videos posted to the club’s TikTok account.
The first showed the 24-year-old appealing for a penalty, with sped-up audio captioning ‘Give me a penalty please’ before showing him putting the penalty wide.
A second video, circulating online and since deleted, compared Osimhen to a “coconut,” which is widely seen as a racial slur.
The forward scored 31 goals last season and Napoli are expected to demand more than £100 million for him
Napoli responded by issuing a statement pleading their innocence, but the relationship between player and club appears to have been badly affected by the incident.
He has also been out since mid-October due to a hamstring injury, meaning he has only played twelve games so far.
However, he still scored seven goals in that time.
Napoli rolled the dice and fired Rudi Garci and replaced him with Walter Mazzarri. It will be intriguing to see how the new coach affects his form and relationship with the club.