Chelsea AGREE to Osimhen-Lukaku SWAP deal

Carlo Garganese

14 Aug 2024 01:50 CDT
3 min read

Victor Osimhen, Romelu Lukaku, domino — © IMAGO

Chelsea have finally agreed to negotiate a swap deal with Napoli that will see Victor Osimhen and Romelu Lukaku change clubs.

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Gianluca Di Marzio reported on Tuesday evening that Chelsea have finally agreed to the idea of a swap and will try to make the deal happen.

The deal will see Chelsea pay a large cash sum for Osimhen, with Lukaku moving the other way in part exchange.

While Chelsea have agreed to a swap, this will still not be an easy transfer to complete.

Osimhen has made it clear that he will not move to Chelsea on loan and the transfer must either be permanent or a loan with an obligation to buy.

The Nigerian also will not accept a pay decrease on his €10 million a year wages.

The transfer fee Napoli will receive also needs to be settled, with Chelsea reluctant to agree to the valuation of Osimhen at €100m.

But the willingness is now there to do a swap, which until now was not the case.

Napoli are desperate to sell Osimhen this summer, with most of their transfer market held up until they can move him on.

Napoli plan to replace Osimhen with Lukaku as soon as they sell the Nigerian.

Likewise, Chelsea are desperate to get Lukaku off their books and the Belgian has made it clear he is only willing to reunite with his favourite coach Antonio Conte at Napoli. Lukaku has rejected a move to Aston Villa in recent weeks.

Osimhen to leave Napoli

Osimhen has decided to leave Napoli this summer, and the Italian club have also agreed to sell to fund new manager Conte’s transfer campaign.

The 25-year-old saw his relationship with Napoli sour this 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.