Prospective teams play cagey as the Nigerian’s Napoli future remains uncertain
By Ed Emeanua
Mikel Arteta is cooling off his prospection of having Napoli forward Victor Osimhen spearheading his offensive arsenal for next season’s football forays.
Calcio Napoli24 claims that the Gunners have scratched out yet another name from their shopping list-Victor Osimhen.
According to Just Arsenal, Arteta’s Premier League outfit is heavily favoring commencing the coming season with the same offensive makeup that they currently have on their books.
Despite lengthy summer transfer news about bringing in a new striker to the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal is saturated with a plethora of players they feel can strengthen their offensive half.
Arteta has been spurning the wheels on these stars for quite some time, getting them well-oiled and ready for big-time football.
Just Arsenal reports that a lot of names have been bandied around in Holloway, North London, England, but Arteta’s side has cooled off on acquiring Benjamin Sesko and Ivan Toney.
Osimhen’s transfer saga has taken on a new dimension with the arrival of Antonio Conte at Napoli.
Several teams are interested in the Napoli forward who is truly a world-class striker. The dilemma for Osimhen and Napoli is that teams that see him as a prospect are now cagey having sensed that the Napoli man has a highly unrealistic future at Napoli.
Aurelio De Laurentiis in his determination not to lose the Nigerian for a reduced fee, placed a stupendous €120m release clause on the forward after the striker had spearheaded Napoli to the scudetto following over thirty years of waiting.
That season, Osimhen scored twenty-six goals in thirty-two Serie A appearances and provided four assists. There were plenty of suitors for the Napoli striker at the end of the 2022-2023 season and that was the right time for the Nigerian to move.
Surprisingly, the Napoli striker dug himself into a ditch by deciding to stay. Then, at the end of the 2023-2024 term, Osimhen scored fifteen goals in twenty-five Serie A outings with three assists, making prospectors wary of his consistency.
The scenery became even more complicated for the Nigeria international with the coming of a manager to Napoli who is aiming for a different striker.
Osimhen was done in the moment Conte left him out of his plans for the about-to-commence season thereby telegraphing to suitors that the Nigerian’s future in Napoli is uncertain.
Smart teams needing the striker will only sit this one out to the closing minutes of the current transfer season when desperation usually drives teams needing instant cash to sell on the cheap.
Whatever happens with Osimhen at the close of the summer transfer season, Napoli will not rake in the entire €120m in the player’s release clause.
Chelsea is the most likely destination for Osimhen simply because De Laurentiis has no other option but to grant Conte’s wish to bring in Romelu Lukaku to Stadio Armando Maradona and Chelsea will achieve their determination to offload the Belgium international finally.
The two teams will reach this milestone probably at the last few moments before the close of the summer transfer window. However, the deal isn’t going to be worth €120m. It won’t even be close.
