Osimhen farther in limbo as Lukaku joins Napoli

Victor Osimhen’s future is now more shrouded in uncertainties after Napoli reached a €30m agreement with Chelsea to finally complete the signing of Romelu Lukaku, Punch Sports Extra reports.

With suitors backpedalling over the hefty €130 release clause, there had been talks about the Partenopei meeting Osimhen’s camp for him to spend another season in Naples. But that move has been dealt a fatal blow by the signing of Lukaku, another aggressive pointman long sought by Antonio Conte, his former coach at Chelsea.

Osimhen’s sterling performance in the 2023/24 season for Napoli made him the first item in the summer transfer window, but he could be the last with just seven days of business left.

PSG, who were the first suitors to make enquiries about the 25-year-old Nigeria striker as a possible replacement for Kylian Mbappe, have since backed down.

Chelsea were also interested, but the Premier League club prefer a loan deal, which Osimhen’s camp wouldn’t entertain. The Blues remain his only chance to play in the Premier League but that can only happen if the club decide to buy or the player heads to Stamford Bridge on a loan deal that will lower his weekly wages.

Manchester also mooted the idea of signing the African Footballer of the Year in the early days of the summer transfer window, but the Red Devils never took their interest close to making an offer.

Osimhen has also been linked with Arsenal all summer, largely touted as the ideal pointman needed by the Gunners to favourably mount a title challenge. This has also vanished like the vapour, with Mikel Arteta ruling out the possibility.

“We have some great strikers. Gabi (Gabriel) Jesus is there, Kai (Havertz) has played there a lot of minutes, Leo (Leandro Trossard) has played there, and we believe we have all the necessities as well. We fully trust our players. We want to get better for sure, and we will try, but we are going to try with the players that are already with us,” the Spaniard said as per goal.com.

With his Napoli fate now sealed, Osimhen may consider a move to the Saudi Pro League, where several clubs are eager to embrace him. These including Al Qadsiah, Al Ahli, and Al Hilal, who tabled a mouthwatering offer that was rejected by the player the last summer.

Napoli are so desperate to replace Osimhen that they would pay €30 million for Lukaku, who will turn 31 in May. This is something they haven’t been accustomed to during the Aurelio De Laurentiis era.

They also reached an agreement for the Belgian before selling Osimhen, hoping to please Conte and give a much-needed boost to the whole team after a shocking 3-0 loss to Hellas Verona in the opening Serie A game of the season last week.