JUST a day after French giants Paris Saint-Germain expressed their intention to sign Victor Osimhen from Napoli by making a €90m plus €40m first offer, Premier League club, Chelsea, have also tabled an offer of €90m plus Romelu Lukaku for the Nigerian striker.
Osimhen only signed a new contract at Napoli at the start of the year with his release clause set at around €130m but that has not deterred interested clubs from making offers for the coveted striker.
Following impressive seasons with the Partenopeans, the Super Eagles striker has emerged as one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe.
However, according to Il Corriere dello Sport, PSG are favourites in the hunt for the 25-year-old as they see the Nigerian as the perfect replacement for Real Madrid-bound Kylian Mbappé.
The French champions however face competition from Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool, who are also expected to launch their bids for the player in the coming days.
Sky Sport Italia transfer expert, Gianluca Di Marzio, wrote that Chelsea had approached Napoli to ask about Osimhen as well.
According to the Italian, the Blues are hoping to lower the cost by including Lukaku as part of the deal.
“For the Nigerian striker, the French can soon open negotiations with the Neapolitans, who however have also had initial contacts with Chelsea in the meantime,” Marzio said.
“The English are trying to understand the feasibility of an 80/90 million operation with the inclusion of Lukaku plus a young player in the negotiation.
“Lukaku is a target of the next sporting director Giovanni Manna, who already wanted to bring him to Juventus in an exchange with Vlahovic.”
This could be more intriguing than many might think, as Napoli’s new director of sport is going to be Giovanni Manna, who already tried to bring Lukaku to Juventus last summer.
Lukaku has made it clear he does not want to remain at Chelsea and would prefer to stay in Italy, as after his loan at Inter, he spent this season with Roma.
Osimhen’s recruitment will come as a big boost for the London club who have heavily relied on Cole Palmer due to the inconsistency of Nicolas Jackson who was brought in from Villarreal last summer.
Despite missing a large chunk of the 2023/24 season due to injuries and his involvement with Nigeria at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, the striker still boasts 17-goal involvement (14 goals and three assists) in 22 appearances in the Italian topflight league.
The 25-year-old has been in fine form for Napoli, guiding the Serie A club to their first league victory in 33 years with a league-high 26 goals in 32 Serie A games last season, and 31 goals across all competitions.