Napoli open door for Osimhen to Chelsea

Robin Bairner

• 20 Sept 2024 16:30 BST
• 3 min read

Victor Osimhen does not want to play for Napoli again, sporting director Giovanni Manna admitted, opening the door to the Nigeria international departing for Chelsea or another Premier League destination in the future.

Osimhen may not have got his desired permanent move away from Napoli, but a deal that has seen him sign on loan for Galatasaray has been brokered.

Previously, the 25-year-old had been close to moving to Chelsea but could not agree personal terms with the Blues while PSG did reach a contract agreement with the play but refused to match Napoli’s valuation of €130 million.

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In the end, a switch to Galatasaray was not what either Osimhen or Napoli planned, yet Manna admits it was a logical solution that threatened to end in an ugly statement.

“Osimhen’s situation influenced us. He himself had expressed his desire that he no longer wanted to play for Napoli and that he really wanted to leave,” the Napoli director told CRC (via ArenaNapoli).

“Initially, the conditions for a transfer were not there. At that point, we were missing a striker. We needed someone with different characteristics who could solve the coach’s needs: hence the decision to accelerate for Romelu Lukaku.”

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We didn’t want a loan, Napoli admit

Napoli even needed some talking into allowing Osimhen to go to Galatasaray.

“It was an opportunity,” Manna said. “They approached us as soon as the summer transfer window shut. At the beginning, we weren’t open to the idea. We didn’t want a loan.

“After talking to the player, we found a satisfactory solution for everyone.

“We wanted to sell him, but that wasn’t the case.”

Manna further claimed that Napoli’s summer transfer market was “tainted” by the Osimhen affair.

Osimhen, who could make his Galatasaray debut against Fenerbahce at the weekend, has a break clause in his loan deal that means a Premier League switch could be a mid-season possibility.