Chelsea dealt blow in Victor Osimhen pursuit

Stuart Telford

• 29 Oct 2023 11:08 GMT
• 3 min read

Napoli star Victor Osimhen is at the top of Chelsea's January shopping list, but his current employers are in no rush to sell…

Osimhen has emerged as one of the most in-demand strikers in world football after firing Napoli to their first Scudetto in 33 years with 26 goals last season, before adding another six in eight games this term.

Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis had previously said that it would take at least €100 million for his to part ways with his star striker, but relations between club and player have since frayed after an in-house TikTok video mocking Osimhen was posted.

READ: How Chelsea can beat FFP to sign Osimhen

With Osimhen out of contract in 2025, Napoli are running out of time to extract a maximum fee for him, but sporting director Mauro Meluso has ruled out selling him as soon as January.

"Absolutely not!" he said when asked if he would consider a sale in the upcoming winter transfer window. "The squad is very large and leaves us calm."

Poch getting worried

Chelsea's need for a striker is pronounced. The Blues were beaten 2-0 by Brentford on Saturday, with Nicolas Jackson - a €37m summer arrival from Villarreal - failing to test Mark Flekken in the visiting goal.

READ: Who is Miles Leaburn? The prolific Charlton striker attracting Chelsea's interest

Maurocio Pochettino admitted after the game that Chelsea might need an alternative to their two-goal striker.

"We need to be more clinical and strong," he said after the game. "If you don't score then your confidence goes down. It's also bad luck. [Christopher] Nkunku can score a lot of goals but was injured in pre-season. Jackson's young, arrived this season and needs to adapt."

Osimhen is valued at €81m by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm and Chelsea could do worse than paying big for him this year rather than miss out on him next.

Manchester United, Arsenal and Real Madrid are among the clubs to have also been linked with a move for the Nigerian, and if he remains available on a free the jostling for his services will only intensify.