Osimhen chaos! Napoli freeze star out after failed Chelsea deal

31 Aug 2024 11:30 BST
3 min read

Victor Osimhen, Antonio Conte, Napoli — © IMAGO

Victor Osimhen’s failed exit from Napoli during the summer transfer window has left the striker in a state of limbo, with the Serie A club taking the decision to leave the Nigeria international hitman out of their squad for the campaign ahead.

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Osimhen had been strongly linked with a move to Chelsea throughout Deadline Day but was unable to agree personal terms with the Premier League club, with the gap between the two parties alleged in some quarters to have been as great as €100,000 per week.

The striker was offered €6 million per year, yet he was unwilling to take such a substantial pay cut from his current salary of €11m.

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According to a report from Il Mattino, Osimhen even pushed to sign for PSG in the closing minutes of the window. His entourage tried to broker a deal with the Ligue 1 champions, who he had previously agreed personal terms worth €12m per year with.

PSG, though, had been scared off by Napoli’s exorbitant asking price, which they had apparently been ready to reduce, though not by enough.

‘Maximum tension’ at Napoli

Worse has followed for Osimhen, with Gazzetta reporting that he has been frozen out of Napoli’s Serie A squad.

The club have gone so far as to confirm that Romelu Lukaku, signed from Chelsea, has taken his No.9 jersey.

A move to Saudi Arabia currently looks unlikely, with Al-Ahli having signed Ivan Toney to fill their last slot for a foreign player, and while the possibility of moving to another Pro League team is live, this is said to be unlikely.

© IMAGO - Osimhen has been left out of Napoli's Serie A squad

“There are no clubs ready to satisfy Napoli and Osimhen,” the report states, indicating there is “maximum tension” around the situation.

Al-Ahli’s offer of €65m had been knocked back by the Serie A club and as a result they moved on to sign Toney, despite having reached an agreement of a four-year deal with Osimhen worth €40m each season.

Now the striker apparently has nowhere to turn, with Osimhen, in the words of Gazzetta, “treated like waste paper” with an escape route “difficult to imagine”.