Chelsea near €50m sale to fund Osimhen chase

Robin Bairner

• 22 Dec 2023 06:40 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea are ready to sell Conor Gallagher to rivals Tottenham in a move that could allow the Blues to pursue a deal for Victor Osimhen during the January transfer window.

Gallagher has long been a target for Spurs, with the London outfit having put the principles of a deal in place for the England midfielder during the summer.

At that point, Chelsea were reticent to allow the player to depart, but with little movement towards a new contract for Gallagher, who has 18 months left on his current deal, and Financial Fair Play forcing them to sell before buying, Mauricio Pochettino’s side are now open to offers.

Sky Sports reports that a deal could be struck with Tottenham, who themselves are not flush with money but who could sell Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to either Juventus or Atletico Madrid to fund a move.

There is even the prospect of a straight swap with Gallagher, it is stated.

Gallagher out, Osimhen in at Chelsea?

Chelsea have set an asking price of €62 million (£45m) for the player, and while it is unclear if they would wish to replace Gallagher numerically in their squad, it is obvious that they are prioritising more firepower in their squad.

Nicolas Jackson has not provided the assurance in front of goal this season that the Blues might have wished for, while Christopher Nkunku, who was their marquee summer arrival, only made his debut in the midweek Carabao Cup success over Newcastle after suffering injury problems.

Napoli forward Osimhen is the player that the Blues appear to have their eyes set upon as their leading priority, but it is acknowledged that a deal for the Nigeria international star will be hard to broker midway through the season.

Osimhen, who has scored seven Serie A goals in 12 games this season, is poised to sign a new contract with Napoli, guaranteeing his future at the club until the summer, at which point the door will be opened to a move via a minimum fee release clause.

It is hoped that they will be able to beat rivals Arsenal to his signature, but a more realistic time frame would be the summer.

Nevertheless, if they were able to raise funds in the region of €60m by selling Gallagher to Tottenham, it would be a welcome boost to their Osimhen pot given he is likely to cost €130-140m.