Napoli keen to avoid another Osimhen transfer mistake
Napoli director Giovanni Manna has revealed that the club are working to find a solution for Victor Osimhen to leave on a permanent deal this summer and avoid a repeat of last summer’s transfer saga, NewsNGR Sports Extra reports.
Osimhen was close to exiting Napoli for good before the start of the current season but moves to Saudi Arabia and Chelsea failed to get completed and the striker instead joined Galatasaray on loan.
Since making the move to Istanbul, the Nigerian has scored 20 goals in 26 appearances across all competitions.
However, Galatasaray are not expected to sign Osimhen on a permanent transfer and a Premier League move is instead looking more prominent.
Chelsea and Arsenal have both been linked with a move for Osimhen, who has a £90m release clause in his contract that expires in summer 2027.
While Napoli might have to lower their valuation to sell Osimhen, Manna is hopeful that the club and the striker can find a solution for him to depart for good to ensure there is no repeat of last year’s transfer fiasco.
“Victor is always going to be a hotly-debated topic and not just on the transfer market,” Manna told Sky Sport Italia. “He is an appetising player for clubs, he has a clause and everyone knows this, we are working to find a solution as quickly as possible so that we can avoid what happened last year.
“There are certainly regrets, as it is never easy to lose an important player mid-season,” said Manna. “We talked about it a lot, but in my view, the situation was also twisted.
“What it leaves me with is the intention to always be ready to deal with things we cannot control, but we are certain that we did the right thing there.”
Chelsea have a long-standing interest in Osimhen and could revisit a move as they look to strengthen their forward line.
Nicolas Jackson has been their first-choice No.9 over the last 18 months, but he flattered to deceive at times, having scored nine goals and added five assists in 23 Premier League matches this season.
It was also reported recently that the 26-year-old’s move to Manchester United was almost done.
In January, TEAMtalk revealed that Paris Saint-Germain held talks with Napoli over the potential signing of the goal machine when negotiating for his ex-team-mate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
PSG hold a long-term interest in Osimhen and next summer could be the right time for such a transfer to go ahead.
The Ligue 1 giants consider Osimhen’s release clause to be a fair price, though they will try to finalise a deal which includes deferred payments, as they did for Kvaratskhelia.
