English Premier League side, Chelsea, are reluctant to activate the release clause in Victor Osimhen’s contract, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 25-year-old has been a breath of fresh air in Naples since joining the club in 2020, scoring 76 goals and providing 18 assists in 131 games for Die Partenopei.
Individually, the former Lille man has seen his career take on a meteoric rise. Aside from winning the Scudetto with Napoli last season, Osimhen won the Serie A Golden Boot, the CAF Player of the Year Award, the Italian Player of the Year Award, alongside securing a top-ten finish in last year’s Ballon d’Or rankings.
It however looks like the former Wolfsburg man wants to expand his coast, with a move to a bigger club on the cards. Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea have the strongest interest in the Super Eagles International.
Osimhen signed a new deal with Napoli late last year. A release clause of about €130million was included in the contract, and the club’s president, Aurelien De Laurentiis is unwilling to listen to offers below the included price tag.
Soccernet.ng earlier reported that Chelsea are weighing up a €90m+Romelu Lukaku offer for Osimhen, with PSG also considering including Goncalo Ramos, Marco Asensio and Carlos Soler in the hopes that the former Lille man returns to France.
Transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano, has dropped a surprise regarding Chelsea’s Osimhen pursuit. Speaking on the Here We Go Podcast, Romano said; “It’s important to say Chelsea don’t want to spend crazy money and for Osimhen it is a big release clause, £103m-£111m, huge salary requested by the player and a big commission.”
Chelsea also spent close to that amount on Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo. With their earlier decision yet to yield dividends, Todd Boehly and the Blues hierarchy are sceptical about repeating the same thing with Osimhen.
The club are looking for Cheaper alternatives, with names like Serhou Guirassy and Benjamin Sesko included in the discussion.