Chelsea could soon become the only club left in the transfer race to sign Napoli star Victor Osimhen. Paris Saint-Germain have been strongly linked to the Nigeria international this summer with Arsenal and Bayern Munich among the clubs to have also shown an interest.
With Harry Kane now at the German giants and the Gunners unwilling to sanction such a marquee signing, PSG and Chelsea are really the only teams that could sign Osimhen. Napoli remain adamant he will not be at the club for the upcoming campaign with the latest update from sporting director Giovanni Manna suggesting as such showcasing that stance is still in place.
“He asked to leave,” Manna said earlier this month as quoted by Gianluca Di Marzio. “We are calm because we have players in the squad who can replace him in the best way. However, we do not want to harm the integrity of the group and want to preserve it. We will see what will happen in the next few days.”
Though Chelsea loan talks have taken place, Osimhen is not keen on a temporary move out of Italy which presents PSG as his most likely destination. Though the French champions have significant finances available, as per Sky Sports Germany, they must first sanction a departure with one of Randal Kolo Muani and Goncalo Ramos likely to fulfil that requirement.
Both attackers featured in PSG’s 4-1 win over Le Havre on Friday evening with Ramos picking up an assist and Kolo Muani scoring a late penalty. Though it was a successful night, head coach Luis Enrique has concerns over the injury picked up by Ramos which could also impact the club’s transfer plans.
As quoted by Fabrizio Romano, regarding the injury, he said: “I’m not a doctor but I think it looks pretty serious. I don’t know how many weeks he will be out injured but it’s serious.” If Ramos, who joined PSG in a £68million deal, is out of action for a significant period, selling him to afford Osimhen will be completely off the table.
Kolo Muani could still be sacrificed but then it would be complete change of attack, something PSG are unlikely to sanction. With that in mind, Chelsea look to have been handed the green light to sign Osimhen, but only if their transfer stance changes.
Currently, as noted by Romano, the Blues are planning to go in for Osimhen in the final days of the summer window likely seeking to agree a loan deal. However, that scenario playing out remains unlikely and with an agreement for Joao Felix getting closer, Chelsea’s chances to sign Osimhen look to be dwindling unless they can raise funds from more player sales.
