Is Elling Holland’s (24, Manchester City) arch nemesis finally coming to the English Premier League (EPL)?
According to the UK’s Daily Mail, citing Italy’s Gianluca Di Marzio, Chelsea have made initial contact with Napoli for Victor Osimhen (26, Napoli) in a deal that could include Romelu Lukaku (31, AS Roma) plus cash.
Nigeria international Osimhen joined Napoli from French Ligue 1 side Lille in 2020. After scoring 10 goals in 24 league games in his first season, the 2020-2021 campaign, Osimhen established himself as the club’s main striker, scoring 14 goals in 27 games the following season.
Then, in the 2022-2023 season, when Kim Min-Jae (28, Bayern Munich) joined the club, Osimhen exploded with 26 goals in 32 games, leading Napoli to their first Serie A title in 33 years and making him the league’s top scorer. He has shown no signs of slowing down this season with 14 goals in 22 games.
Osimhen’s rise to the top of Serie A attracted interest from big clubs last summer, including Chelsea, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, PSG, 바카라사이트 and Liverpool. Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal even offered £130 million for the player, with a weekly wage of up to £1 million.
However, Osimhen rejected all of these offers and showed his commitment to staying at Napoli.
Instead, he has reportedly agreed to a release clause with Napoli that allows him to leave at any time if a good offer comes along.
Osimhen is said to have favored a move to Chelsea, who have shown consistent interest in him. “I don’t have a favorite Premier League club but I have two jerseys, Chelsea and Man United,” Osimhen told Nigerian legend John Obi Mikel’s ‘The Obi One’ podcast last November.
“Most of my friends are Chelsea fans but very few are Man United fans,” he said, adding that “the Premier League is the league that all African players rate most highly. It’s a great league,” he added, drawing attention to the league.
“When the Saudi transfer link came up, I thought, ‘I wish Osimhen would just stay at Napoli,’” said Mikel, also a former Chelsea star, but added that “he will come to Chelsea next season,” adding, “I will be his agent. Osimhen is 100% going to Chelsea next season,” and actively encouraged the transfer.
Chelsea is led up front by Senegal international Nicolas Jackson, 23. He has scored 11 goals in 31 league games this season.
However, he is criticized for his lack of decisiveness.
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, Chelsea have made initial contact with Osimhen. PSG were the first to show interest, but Chelsea have now joined the race to sign Osimhen.
According to the report, Osimhen is available for a transfer fee of between £68 million and £77 million. However, Napoli have made several demands. They’ve been asked to include two players in the deal.
One of them is Lukaku, who could replace Osimhen. Lukaku is currently on loan at AS Roma. It’s unclear if it’s a loan or an outright transfer, but they’re hoping to add another young player.
If Osimhen were to come to the Premier League, he could be a great counterpart to Holland. Osimhen’s decisiveness has been compared to Holland’s ‘monster run’ in his first season.
Of course, Holland has the advantage in terms of team organization right now. 토토사이트 순위 Holland led City to the league’s top scorer last season with 36 goals and led the club to a triple treble (Champions League, Premier League, and FA Cup) with the best team in the country. This season, he’s already on pace for 25 goals.
For now, the negotiations between Chelsea, Osimhen, and Napoli are positive. The problem, according to local media, is that the interests of Osimhen and Lukaku must be taken into account before a deal can be finalized. It”ll be interesting to see if Osimhen can compete with Holland in the Premier League.
