Chelsea urged NOT to sign Osimhen by club legend
Robin Bairner
- 16 Nov 2023 06:32 GMT
- 3 min read
Chelsea have been told they should not sign Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, despite apparently crying out for a centre-forward.
The Blues invested €37 million in Villarreal’s Nicolas Jackson in the summer and William Gallas is fearful that any additional competition for the No.9 role could potentially hurt the confidence of the Senegal international.
Jackson, though, has struggled in his early weeks at Chelsea, despite bagging a hat-trick in the 4-1 victory over Tottenham and then following that up with another strike against Manchester City to take his tally to a respectable six goals in 11 Premier League matches.
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And Gallas says that the 22-year-old should be protected by not moving for Osimhen.
"Victor Osimhen joining Chelsea would harm the confidence of players like Nicolas Jackson," he told Lord Ping.
"You have to be careful and really think about bringing in a new striker. As I said before, I think Chelsea should finish the season with Jackson and see how many goals he gets. We also need to see how he improves.
"He has the quality to do so. Chelsea need to let Jackson get to work."
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Will Chelsea sign Osimhen?
Chelsea have been tipped to add to their squad in attack during the January transfer window, although the return to fitness of Christopher Nkunku, who has yet to debut for the club, could potentially change those plans.
If Nkunku can replicate the type of form that he showed at RB Leipzig prior to his €60m move to Chelsea in the summer – he scored 23 goals in 36 games last term – there would be little need for Mauricio Pochettino’s side to spend big on Osimhen.
And if the Blues are to sign the Nigeria international star, he would command a massive investment.
Osimhen’s asking price stands at over €100m, with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis insistent that clubs will have to break the bank for his star man.
With 18 months left on his contract and in a dispute over a new deal with the Serie A champions, financially it may be better to leave off any deal until the summer, but with Chelsea needing firepower to mount a top-four challenge, their need seems to be more urgent than that.
