CHELSEA have reportedly given up on recruiting Victor Osimhen from Napoli, with the Super Eagles star’s asking price of around €120 million considered too high.
Instead, the English Premier League club have turned their attentions to Atletico Madrid striker Samu Omorodion, the Spain youth international with Nigerian blood.
With Osimhen out of the way, talks between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid are reportedly advancing over Omorodion, who is set to cost the Blues around €35m despite scoring just nine goals from 35 LaLiga appearances in a loan spell with Alaves last season.
The deal for Omorodion would be separate to Conor Gallagher’s move the other way, with the England midfielder flying into the Spanish capital to undergo a medical with Atletico Madrid ahead of a £33.7m move.
Chelsea had been heavily linked with a move for Osimhen in recent windows, with a swap deal involving Romelu Lukaku plus cash mentioned in the past few weeks.
However, the Serie A side refused to pay Osimhen’s €120m release clause, which was inserted into the contract when he signed a Napoli extension last year.
With Chelsea moving on from Osimhen, Sky Italy’s European transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio has claimed that Arsenal could make a move for the Nigeria international.
The report claims the Gunners, along with Paris Saint-Germain and clubs in Saudi Arabia, all hold an interest in Osimhen, who has scored 76 goals in 133 appearances for Napoli.
Despite the riches on offer in Saudi Arabia, the report claims Osimhen is not keen on playing in the Middle East.
The 25-year-old is yet to feature in a single pre-season game for Napoli under new manager Antonio Conte as the Super Eagles striker appears destined to leave the side he inspired to the 2022/2023 Serie A title, their first Scudetto in 33 years.
