Napoli have set Victor Osimhen’s price tag. The Italian League leader will demand 150 million pounds with Manchester United and Chelsea among others who are interested in signing the star striker.
It is no doubt, Victor Osimhen is one of the most valuable strikers in Europe and has turned heads with his clinical performances that have seen him score 25 goals for the Naples outfit and help them secure 19 points clear at the top of Serie A.
Napoli expect a slew of bids for the 24-year-old Nigerian after the season due to his stellar performance, thus the club has set a high asking price.
With a contract in place until 2025, the Italian club is under no need to sell its greatest asset, and president Aurelio De Laurentiis has made it clear that he would not negotiate with any team that does not meet the asking price of £150 million.
Moreover, Osimhen is reportedly interested in joining Man United, who have made acquiring a new striker a top priority this summer, but the club’s executives may be deterred by Napoli’s outrageous asking price.
Erik ten Hag is keen for additional scoring options to keep his club competitive with Arsenal and Man City, the only other teams in the English Premier League championship pursuit.
Osimhen has also been heavily linked to Chelsea.
The Blues have spent over £600 million on new players this season under new owner Todd Boehly, but they still need a consistent striker due to the ineffectiveness of Joao Felix and Kai Havertz.
Recent reports from the Italian publication Calciomercato said that the Blues had found Osimhen to have the ideal profile for the club and that Boehly was going to provide cash and Christian Pulisic in exchange.
Osimhen said this month that he plans to meet with his representatives when the season concludes to talk about his future.
Victor Osimhen stats this season;
Osimhen has appeared in all 29 games for Napoli this season, scoring 25 goals and assisting on five more. He currently leads the Serie A in goals with 18.
His goal total for the Serie A team will increase before the season end if he proceeds with his fine form after the international break.
Napoli stands at the center of investigation;
On the other hand, concerns have been raised that the £70.1 million agreement in 2020 that brought Osimhen to Napoli from Lille may prove to be a huge headache for the club.
Juventus was fined 15 points for using shady bookkeeping to artificially inflate the value of player transfers and cheat the FFP regulations.
As it stands, Napoli appears to have taken a similar approach.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Naples has requested and is awaiting a summer ruling on a six-month extension of their probe into the transfer.
Why? Because four players from Napoli went to Lille in exchange for £17.5 million.
Orestis Karnezis, the goalkeeper; Luigi Liguori, Claudio Manzi, and Ciro Palmieri, all members of the young squad.
Even though Karnezis was 35 at the time, he never played for Lille along with the other three.
Several of them have never set foot in France since their contracts were terminated so quickly and the younger ones are playing in the minor leagues.
Osimhen was the driving force behind the transfer, which was made to free up funds for investments in promising young players outside of FFP relations.
There may be trouble ahead for Napoli, Osimhen may have made it to the Premier League by the time they are dealt with.
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