Paris Saint-Germain are making progress with the transfer of Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, following the arrival of the player’s agent Roberto Calenda in Paris on Tuesday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
It is no longer news that Napoli are willing to part ways with their most prized asset for €130m this summer and while offers haven’t come from the player’s preferred destination – the English Premier League – PSG are in pole to land the Nigeria striker.
However, the French giants are not willing to pay more than €100m for Osimhen but they would have to add about three players to make the deal work.
Reports from Italy also say Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is open to discussing the details of the €100m plus players deal.
Italian outlet, Sport Mediaset reports that PSG are ready to close the deal after talks with Calenda.
“The Osimhen deal is nearing a turning point. The Nigerian’s agent, Roberto Calenda , flew to Paris to speak directly with PSG and it seems that the mission has yielded very positive results . After the market summit, the French club has apparently decided to close the deal, satisfying both Napoli and the player,” the outlet reported on Wednesday.
Transfer market expert, Fabrizio Romano also confirmed that the deal is becoming concrete.
“PSG are advancing in talks with Victor Osimhen’s camp as their interest is now getting concrete,” Romano said on Wednesday.
“Osimhen, keen on joining PSG and open to the move if they can agree on deal/fee with Napoli.
“He’d be very high on PSG list, if one centre striker left.”
Napoli are also confident that Calenda will get PSG to pay more than €100m for Osimhen as they hope to wrap up the deal before the start of the second phase of their pre-season.
The 2022/23 Italian champions need Osimhen to leave before the can land their prime replacement, Romelo Lukaku.
Chelsea are refusing to let him leave for under €35m, so Napoli cannot make a move until they have sold Osimhen.
Negotiation between Napoli and PSG is expected to take significant acceleration on the coming days.
That will also erase interest in the player from the Saudi Pro League. Despite the large sum of money put into the deal by Al Ahli, Osimhen has been unmoved about the idea of leaving Europe.
Meanwhile, Osimhen continues pre-season training with Napoli, and new coach Antonio Conte was left impressed by his attitude despite not having him in his plans for next season.