Chelsea make €150m Osimhen ‘top target’ with swap deal on agenda

Chelsea have reportedly made Napoli striker Victor Osimhen their ‘top striker target’ ahead of the summer transfer window.

The Blues have spent over £600m on new signings since the start of this season but they still need to strengthen up front.

Kai Havertz has often been used as a makeshift striker this term with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of favour and Armando Broja out of action through injury.

One of Chelsea’s main issues this term has been their lack of goals. They are ninth in the Premier League having only scored 22 goals in 21 league games this season.

They have lacked a prolific goalscorer in recent years, but Osimhen has been in stunning form for Serie A leaders Napoli this season. He has netted 16 goals in 17 outings for the Italian outfit.

Man Utd are also being linked with the Nigeria international as it is known that they are also in the market for a new forward ahead of the summer.

But 90min are reporting that ‘Chelsea have identified Napoli striker Osimhen as their primary striker target for the 2023 summer window’.

The Blues are said to be ‘desperate to win the race’ to sign the Serie A standout. He still has two years remaining on his contract at Napoli, who reportedly value him at around €150m.

This asking price has ‘not scared’ Chelsea but they are ‘expected to try and reduce that fee by offering a number of players in exchange’. Romelu Lukaku is a ‘possibility’ in that regard if he ‘does not return to Inter’.

The report from 90min adds: ‘Chelsea have been scouting a number of alternative targets and are understood to have looked at Brentford’s Ivan Toney, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Randal Kolo Muani and Benfica’s Goncalo Ramos, while they also pursued Borussia Monchengladbach’s Marcus Thuram during the winter and are keeping tabs on Dusan Vlahovic’s situation at Juventus.’

Italian journalist Gianni Visnadi is full of admiration for Osimhen, who is a “brilliant madman”.

“I am crazy about Osimhen and I think he is a fantastic player,” Visnadi told Radio Crc.

“€200million for a footballer seems crazy to me. If we go by the ratio with others I think there is a very dangerous drift in this aspect.

CHelsea target Osimhen

“Osimhen is crazy because he does things that others don’t even think about, this year he is showing who he really is.

“Congratulations to whoever chose him. He is a jewel that has been polished well to make him shine as he deserves.

“Napoli had continuity, good game, alternatives. Napoli went 6 games without Osimhen and no one noticed it because some good guys entered who won the games. Osimhen arrived with the stigmata of a champion, but the coach’s merits are also evident because he is a total player.

“Ibanez making that mistake should be thanked because otherwise we wouldn’t have seen a crazy play from Osimhen. Only a brilliant madman can make that play, the genius of making that shot there is extraordinary.”