Fabrizio Romano reveals new club fighting Chelsea for Victor Osimhen

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 26 Nov 2024 07:29 GMT
• 3 min read

Fabrizio Romano has revealed that a new club has joined the race to sign Victor Osimhen in 2025.

Romano reported on the Daily Briefing on Monday that Juventus have made contact with Napoli over the possibility of signing the Nigeria striker.

Juventus could be in the market for a new first-choice number nine as Dusan Vlahovic’s future is very much at risk.

Vlahovic’s contract expires in 2026 and Juventus will sell him if they cannot agree on a renewal before the end of the campaign. Right now, contract talks are at a standstill.

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A deal for Osimhen will be difficult for Juventus given his costs and their rivalry with Napoli.

Romano says that Juventus are also strongly considering Man Utd’s Joshua Zirkzee.

Nevertheless, Juve’s interest in Osimhen comes as a blow to Chelsea and Galatasaray.

Osimhen joined Galatasaray in a shock loan from Napoli after a deadline day transfer to Chelsea (and to Saudi Arabia) failed to be completed.

Napoli inserted a break clause in his Galatasaray contract which will allow the Italians to sell the striker during the January transfer window.

Osimhen is likely to see out the rest of the season at Galatasaray, who would like to buy him permanently but almost certainly can’t afford the €60-70 million Napoli are asking.

Chelsea can afford that price and are expected to launch a new offer in 2025.

Osimhen to Galatasaray on loan

Osimhen joined Galatasaray on loan for the season from Napoli until June 2025.

It is a dry loan with Galatasaray simply covering his salary from September until June at a cost of €10 million.

He has enjoyed a fantastic start to the season with Galatasaray, already scoring eight goals in 10 games.

The attacker had spent the entire summer searching for a new club and sacked his agent when this wasn’t forthcoming.

The 25-year-old had been frozen out of the squad at Napoli, with no chance of being reintegrated under new manager Antonio Conte.

Instead of spending the entire first half of the season training on his own, Osimhen opted to join Galatasaray on loan.

Osimhen saw his relationship with Napoli sour last season, following the TikTok scandal in which the club’s own social media team mocked his penalty miss with Bologna.

Osimhen had a largely difficult season on the pitch, while Napoli endured a disastrous defence of the Scudetto they won in the 2022-23 season as they finished 10th in Serie A.

The Nigerian had been a key player in the Scudetto campaign, scoring 26 league goals in 32 games.