“One step away”- Napoli’s Victor Osimhen set to snub Chelsea for potential Champions League winners

Victor Osimhen won the Italian Golden Boot alongside the best player award last season after Napoli claimed the Serie A title.

Super Eagles and Napoli striker, Victor James Osimhen, is all but set to join his new club in the summer after leaving Napoli, Soccernet.ng reports.

The 25-year-old had a stellar season in Naples last year, making history as the club claimed their first Scudetto in over three decades.

Individual accolades were also a part of last year’s crux as Osimhen secured a top-ten Ballon d’Or finish, the African Player of the Year award, the Italian Player of the Year, and the Capocannoniere award.

His success saw him linked with several clubs like Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester United, but the £113m release clause in his contract has turned out to be a huge ask for these clubs.

While Chelsea are keen on bringing the Nigerian to Stamford Bridge due to Nicolas Jackson’s lack of clinicality in front of goal, it appears the former Lille man might be heading to France to replace the departing Kylian Mbappe.

According to the Italian daily newspaper, Il Mattino, Osimhen is ‘one step away’ from a move to PSG and Napoli are waiting for the French club to meet the striker’s release clause. In the past week, the striker indicated that he is preparing for an emotional farewell with Napoli fans next month.

Osimhen’s decision will come as a blow for Chelsea and some of their legends like John Mikel Obi and Didier Drogba, who are big advocates of the Super Eagles forward and have made their admiration of him known to the public, hoping it’ll lure him to join the two-time UEFA Champions League winners.

Despite missing a large portion of the season to Napoli, Osimhen has scored 15 goals and provided four assists in 28 games for Napoli this season.

Adefolahan Guerreiro

Adefolahan is a multilingual journalist and writer at Soccernet Nigeria. With a track record of involvement in College sports, Adefolahan is focused on crafting engaging football content and utilising his language skills and extensive sports knowledge to enhance content accessibility for a global audience. He has interviewed Nigerian stars like Finidi George, Junior Lokosa, and Abraham Onahi Ogbu.

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