Serie A giants SSC Napoli are one of several clubs interested in signing CFR Cluj’s prolific forward Philip Otele this summer, Soccernet.ng reports.
Otele has been one of the outstanding stars of the 2023/24 Romanian top-flight campaign, netting 13 goals and adding seven assists in 35 games for Cluj.
The 24-year-old is the highest-scoring Nigerian in Liga I, outshining Petrolul 52’s Christian Irobiso (4 goals) and Rapid’s Funsho Bamgboye (3) during the regular season.
Interestingly, Otele’s performances have caught the attention of Napoli, according to Voetbal24.
The Scudetto winners are set to lose top man Victor Osimhen in the summer, with the Super Eagles striker primed for a move to the English Premier League.
However, Napoli are not the only ones eyeing Otele, with the reports claiming Club Brugge, Brentford, and Brighton are also keen on the former Kauno Žalgiris striker.
Brighton are believed to be leading the race for Otele, with the Seagulls planning to sign him in the summer before loaning him out immediately to partner club Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium.
Cluj’s stance on Otele’s transfer?
CFR Cluj are not pleased that transfer speculations are circulating Otele, with the club still fighting to secure a place in the European competitions next term.
Club president Cristi Balaj insists that Cluj are not considering any offer for their star forward at this time of the campaign.
However, Balaj admits that Otele is destined to play in one of the major European championships when he finally moves away.
“It is not a transfer period now. It is an important period of the championship and we are not necessarily happy when such topics appear in important moments of the championship,” Balaj told Sport.ro.
“We know that Otele is being pursued by major clubs; there was an important offer in the winter, which was turned down because we consider his value to be much higher than what was offered to us.
“We avoid talking about amounts because the value of a player must be given by his performances.
“We are satisfied that he has a very good level – assists, goals scored. We are confident that he will end up having a transfer to an important club.”
He continued: “Otele is a consummate professional. For him, there is only football. He is preparing at the highest level and I am convinced that he will reach a major club in Europe.
“The winter offer for Otele was from Europe, from France. There were other teams interested in Otele, but the one from France was concrete.
“Now we have nothing, but now is not a transfer period. I am convinced that if he evolves as he does during this period we will see him in important championships.
“Undeniably, I see Otele in an important championship. He is a player far above the level of the Romanian championship.
“It was a good decision to transfer him; we watched him, we noticed him and probably we saw qualities in him that others didn’t notice.”
Otele, under contract at CFR Club until June 2025, was named to the Romanian SuperLiga Best XI following his excellent displays for the Provincial Champions.
You do know that Brighton are banned from doing any dealings with Union Saint-Gilloise until September this year don’t you?
Therefore, I take this with a pinch of salt because if you make a simple mistake like that then the whole piece must be taken in the same light.