Napoli won’t sell Victor Osimhen to either Chelsea or Manchester United: report
Despite strong interest from both sides, a new report suggests Osimhen won't be going anywhere this summer
Chelsea and Manchester United both have a strong interest in bringing a world-class striker to their respective clubs in the summer, but Napoli's Victor Osimhen seems out of the equation for now.
After a strong season in Serie A where he guided Napoli to their first Scudetto in over 30 years with his 25 goals, Osimhen has naturally attracted the interest of Europe's elite.
Chelsea and Manchester United have both been linked, but, as Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports, suggests, it will take a huge offer from either side to tempt Napoli into selling their prized asset.
"Victor Osimhen is going to be tough," Jacobs told FourFourTwo on June 1. "Napoli don’t want to sell: there’s obviously a variety of suitors for him.
"I think people forget with Osimhen that Napoli paid a deal that included an upfront fee, bonus fees and the valuation of player swaps, so the reason why they’re asking for so much money if they entertain a sale – and it is a big if – is that ultimately, they want something close to double what they paid for the player and they paid a massive amount of money for him.
"Of course, there’s admiration for one of the form players in Europe at the moment."
While the true fee of Osimhen's transfer to Napoli is unknown, it is valued at around £80 million when considering the other aspects to signing him from Lille in 2020.
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With that in mind, Jacobs is suggesting the Nigerian will cost close to £160m, a vastly larger outlay both clubs would likely consider - especially when he only has two years remaining on his contract. Instead, Jacobs highlights other options the two sides are looking at.
"Dusan Vlahovic is an option. Manchester United are also looking at him. It’s a very real possibility that he leaves Juventus and the situation will become clear over the coming weeks."
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.