Chelsea to trigger Osimhen's ASTRONOMICAL release clause

Stuart Telford

• 7 Jan 2024 11:25 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea have made Victor Osimhen their top transfer target and the Nigerian's new Napoli contract - with a €120 million release clause - could be taken as an invitation to bid.

Chelsea have spent £1 billion on players since Todd Boehly took ownership of the club in May 2022, but results have thus far failed to follow, with the Blues languishing in 10th at the midway point of the current Premier League season.

Cole Palmer has been their most potent attacking asset with eight goals and four assists, but he is a No.10, and a world-class striker is perhaps understandably at the top of the Blues' shopping list.

Osimhen fired Napoli to their first Scudetto in 33 years last season with 26 goals, and the new three-year contract he signed in December won't put Chelsea off, according to a report in Italy.

Are Chelsea ready to sign Osimhen?

"Chelsea are ready for a big summer assault for the striker, Victor Osimhen," report Neapolitan sports daily Il Mattino. "The English club plan to pay the entire €120 million release clause to Napoli in one go."

Osimhen is valued at €77.5 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, but few players move above market value more than strikers, and Osimhen's release clause would save Chelsea from a bidding war against other potential suitors.

Chelsea will need to sell around £120m worth of talent before they buy, however, at the risk of falling foul of financial fair play regulations. A move at the end of the season, rather than this winter, could suit all parties.

Osimhen was a Chelsea fan growing up, and has previously admitted his admiration of Blues legend Didier Drogba.

"I grew up watching Didier Drogba play, he was an example for me," he told Napoli's YouTube channel in 2020.