Victor Osimhen has reminded the masses exactly why Chelsea have been so eager to sign him. The 25-year-old striker has been heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge for a while now as the Blues look to further bolster their attacking understands that Chelsea wanted to sign Osimhen last summer, but the Italian giants were determined to hold onto their talisman – so Nicolas Jackson was signed from Villarreal instead. The west Londoners viewed the Nigeria international as somebody who could have solved the club’s misfortune in front of goal but, without Champions League qualification, any bid to sign him proved difficult.
Chelsea remain some way off the top four this season, yet football.london understands that they’re still interested in signing him. The Blues are, of course, expected to face tough competition from some top clubs, but Todd Boehly has proven that he’s not afraid to pay slightly over the odds to get his hands on his primary target.
As it stands, it remains to be seen whether or not the west Londoners will pursue a move for the Nigerian at the end of the season. However, his performance against Barcelona in the Champions League round of 16 first-leg will have sent Chelsea a timely reminder of what he’s about.
Shortly after Robert Lewandowski put the Catalan side ahead at the Diego Maradona Stadium, Osimhen found an equaliser for Napoli. Displaying his brilliant hold-up play, the Blues target muscled off Inigo Martinez while on the edge of Barcelona’s box.
Osimhen received the ball on the half-turn and, after creating himself some space, he fired the ball past Marc-Andre ter Stegen. His moment of magic handed the Italian outfit a lifeline in the second-leg at the Camp Nou
Speaking on CBS Sports on Wednesday evening, James Carragher backed Osimhen to leave Napoli in the summer. The former Liverpool defender said: “Napoli is a club that he is not going to stay at for the rest of his career and he feels like he can go on to bigger and better things.
“But he signs a contract and straight away he’s talking about where he’s going to go in the summer. I think there’s a buy-out clause there for one hundred million and it feels like some sort of deal has been done between all parties.
“‘I’ll sign a new contract, my wages will go through the roof’. Rightly so for what he did last season, but there’s a deal there if someone wants to do one in the summer.”
Last month, Aurelio De Laurentiis raised a few eyebrows when he claimed it’s been the Italian club’s plan to cash-in on the striker all along. The Napoli president said: “We already knew it since last summer.
“The negotiation for the renewal would not have been this long otherwise. We already knew he would go to Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain or the Premier League.”
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