Chelsea told the difference between Osimhen and Lukaku

Robin Bairner

• 16 Sept 2024 11:30 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea’s ambition remains to sign Victor Osimhen at some point in the future, and the Stamford Bridge side have been told exactly what the difference between the Nigerian and Romelu Lukaku is.

Napoli loaned out Osimhen to Galatasaray for the season after Arsenal and PSG refused to meet the Serie A side’s asking price for the player.

Chelsea, though, were able to strike a loan deal with Antonio Conte’s outfit but fell short on the player’s wage demands, resulting in the transfer breaking down.

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Compared

Victor Osimhen

F (C)

Galatasaray

Victor Osimhen

F (C)

Galatasaray

VS

Romelu Lukaku

F (C)

Napoli

Romelu Lukaku

F (C)

Napoli

€71.1M	ETV	€35.2M
€53.3M - €88.9M	ETV Range	€26.4M - €44M
26 years old (29 Dec, 1998)	Age	31 years old (13 May, 1993)
Nigeria	Nationality	Belgium

Romelu Lukaku had already been sent to Napoli for €30 million, having endured a difficult return to Stamford Bridge.

With Osimhen out of favour and Lukaku a favourite of Conte, the latter has been installed as Napoli’s No.9 for the season.

As fellow new additions Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour, another former Chelsea player, featured off the bench in a 4-0 win over Cagliari that sent Napoli top of Serie A, the Belgian made his first start and made a massive impact with two assists and a goal.

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Defender Amir Rrahmani was asked by Sky Sport Italia following the game about the difference between playing with Lukaku and Osimhen in the side.

“In previous years we had Osimhen, who kept the ball less and looked more to get in behind the defence,” he said. “With Lukaku instead we can play under pressure. He is physically strong and he helps us win the second balls and finish the actions.”

Osimhen is what Chelsea are after

Osimhen fits the mould of what Chelsea appear to see as a No.9 more neatly than Lukaku does, which is part of the reason the Belgian was frozen out.

The Nigeria international’s style of play closely resembles that of Nicolas Jackson, the incumbent player at centre-forward at Stamford Bridge so far this season. This suggests that he could fit quickly and neatly into the Blues’ plans should they complete a transfer for him either during January or next summer.