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Chelsea offer Lukaku plus €90m for Osimhen – Report
A day after French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain announced their intention to recruit Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen from Napoli with a €90 million + €40 million initial offer, Premier League team Chelsea has also put up an offer of €90 million plus Romelu Lukaku for the forward. This information is reported by PUNCH Sports Extra.
Even though Osimhen only recently signed a new deal with Napoli at the beginning of the season, with a release clause set at approximately €130 million, interested clubs have continued to make proposals for the highly sought-after striker.
The Super Eagles striker has become one of Europe's most sought-after strikers after successful seasons with the Partenopeans.
Il Corriere dello Sport, however, claims that PSG is leading the chase for the 25-year-old because they view the Nigerian as the perfect replacement for Real Madrid-bound Kylian Mbappé.
But Chelsea, Manchester United, and Liverpool—all of whom are anticipated to make bids for the player in the coming days—will compete with the French champions.
Gianluca Di Marzio, a transfer specialist for Sky Sport Italia, reported that Chelsea had contacted Napoli about Osimhen as well.
The Italian claims that by adding Lukaku in the deal, the Blues hope to cut costs.
Not simply Victor Osimhen for PSG. The French can soon begin talks with the Neapolitans for the Nigerian striker; in the interim, though, they have also made preliminary contact with Chelsea, according to Marzio.
“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.