Victor Osimhen remains open to agreeing to a move to Chelsea in January and moving in the summer, as Napoli will not sell him in January.
According to Team Talk, Victor Osimhen has opened his doors to join Chelsea if they come in with an approach. The report states the 24-year-old attacker could even sign a pre-contract agreement with the Blues now and move in the summer to join the Premier League.
Victor Osimhen agrees to Chelsea’s move?
There have been a lot of reports since Victor Osimhen signed a new deal with Napoli, which pointed towards an imminent move to the Premier League. The new deal includes a release clause worth £112 million, which might open the avenues for a few of the interested sides.
Arsenal held an interest, but the price tag may have forced them to pull out of the race for good. The Gunners had competition from Chelsea, who are intact in the hunt and are now looking to make progress. The Blue have been the heaviest spenders in world football over the past 18 months but never managed to sign a top-draw striker.
They are looking to fill that No.9 position and could make moves if the right player becomes available in January. However, they are already thinking about the future and were prepared to go all out for Osimhen even before he agreed on a new deal.
Now, the report states that Chelsea might take a leaf out of their book and look to finalise an early move for the 24-year-old attacker to ward off competition. Osimhen, for his part, remains open to signing a pre-contract agreement with the Blues and moving over to Stamford Bridge in the summer after finishing the season with Napoli.
Can Chelsea realistically sign Osimhen?
Napoli President Aurelio Di Laurentiis has ensured Osimhen signed a new deal with a release clause in it. That £112 million is the price range at which Napoli would have ideally sold him next summer, but the new contract makes their hand stronger.
Hence, Di Laurentiis will accept nothing less than his release clause, which stipulates teams pay that fee in full. However, that’s a big ask for Chelsea, who may have backed away from a move for Ivan Toney owing to his huge price tag and his reported preference to join Arsenal.
In any case, Chelsea have managed to find ways around release clauses, as seen with deals for Christopher Nkunku and, most recently, Enzo Fernandez. They might do something similar with Osimhen and find an agreement with Napoli that allows them to structure the deal rather than pay the whole clause in one go.
