According to a report in the Evening Standard, Chelsea are confident that Napoli’s Victor Osimhen will snub Manchester United and join them instead.
Victor Osimhen has been on Napoli’s books since 2020 and last season, he was instrumental in helping them lift the Serie A trophy. He’s scored 65 goals in 111 appearances for the club but this season, his relationship with the owners has gotten strained.
Napoli have already offered him a new and lucrative contract but as per the rumours, Osimhen has put the talks on hold because he wants to explore his options for the upcoming season.
Manchester United and Chelsea had both tried to sign the striker last summer but they had to back out because of Napoli’s massive valuation. However, these two clubs remain interested in the Nigerian international and Chelsea are confident they are the favourites to land him.
Will Victor Osimhen snub Man United and join Chelsea?
Osimhen has recently said that he has two Premier League jerseys and both of them are of the teams which want to sign him.
He said in a recent interview: “I don’t have a favourite Premier League team but I’ve two jerseys: Chelsea and Man United. Many friends of mine are Chelsea fans, few are Man United fans”
Man United have signed Rasmus Hojlund but with Anthony Martial about to leave, the club will try and bring in a new striker but we seriously doubt if they will want to spend £100 million for a second forward.
Chelsea, on the other hand, are badly in need of a world-class centre-forward and they won’t mind spending money on someone like Victor Osimhen. Currently, Nicolas Jackson and Armando Broja are the two centre-forwards so Osimhen will definitely be a massive upgrade.
The Blues won’t mind spending £100-odd million on the Napoli striker but we don’t see them paying so much during the middle of the season. Napoli will not want to lose a player like Osimhen in January and even the Chelsea owners will not sanction such a big transfer fee at the start of the new year.
If Chelsea are serious about signing Victor Osimhen they can only do it at the end of this season. Manchester United will definitely make enquiries when Osimhen becomes available for sale but unless Napoli lower their demands, United are not likely to join this transfer race.
