It’s Winter move to Stamford Bridge or bust for the man from Naples
By Ed Emeanua
Victor Osimhen will commit to a Chelsea move in January only for the right price and stipulations, as the Premier Leaguers now face a summer move or bust dilemma in their quest to land the Napoli maverick in Stamford Bridge.
Sources close to the Nigeria forward say Osimhen could sign for the ‘Blues’ brand, but would reject a Summer transfer to the club should Chelsea fail to secure UEFA Champions League football qualification for next season.
The Super Eagles forward may be open to sign for Chelsea in January and help the Club push for Champions League football qualification in the Premier League next season, rather than sign in the Summer transfer window when all hopes for continental football is lost.
“For the right fee and conditions of service, it is clear that Victor Osimhen could be persuaded to move to Chelsea in January and help his new team qualify for the Champions League,” one of our sources who is very close to the player said.
“It is clear that the problem in the Chelsea lineup is in the striker’s position. Osimhen could be the type of player that Chelsea need at the moment to resolve this issue.
“With the right price to Napoli, and the proper conditions attached to the deal, Osimhen might be willing to move to Chelsea in January and help his new team to gain more traction in achieving club ambitions this season. Moreover, he has already tasted Champions League football this season with Napoli and has scored in the competition. That should be enough for him.”
However, another source close to the player opined that Chelsea could probably encounter resistance from Osimhen to move to Stamford Bridge during the Summer transfer window if they fail to qualify for the Champions League. “I don’t see Osimhen moving to Chelsea during Summer transfer without the assurance of playing Champions League football for the side,” our source insisted.
“In this regard, Manchester United will definitely secure his signature next season if they come for him, and in addition to if they (Manchester United), also qualify to play in the Champions League next term.”
Chelsea currently lie tenth on the Premier League table and are distant from the UEFA Champions League qualification margin by the day as their forward line continue to misfire.
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly may have also expended quite a significant portion of his £1billion improvement expenditure on his Club following his acquisition of the club on effort to sign a topnotch striker for Chelsea, but it appears he’s learning the hard lesson that there are just a few things that money can’t buy in contemporaneous football.
Chelsea has lavished well over £1billion on a total of 29 new players since the American took over the club. However, so far, very few of those signings have actually proved to be successful.
Following a comparative inaction during the initial months of Boehly’s takeover, Chelsea managed nine buys in under two months before ultimately, closing the summer day end of trading of the 2022 transfer window.
The Stamford Bridge side then added another eight signatories to their fold in the winter window, to take their season total signing to 18 players at the end of January 2023.
All in all, and in brief, 30 Chelsea transfers under Todd Boehly catalogued – from Mykhailo Mudryk to Raheem Sterling-in fifteen months, and under a scandalous three transfer windows, Chelsea has made 30 first team signings, and has also spent well over £1billion ($1.2bn) in so doing.
The Chelsea Football Club brand under the Boehly-Clearlake Capital leadership, has also been grossly inadequate on quality manpower acquisition, but very visually pulsatile on lavish spending in the transfer side of football, so far.
Part of that wastefulness on manpower was on Senegalese Nicolas Jackson’s €37 million signing from Villarreal and on the £52m the club splashed on the acquisition of France striker Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig. The pair were purchased for the sole purpose of curbing Chelsea’s poor form of misfiring forward line.
While Nkunku succumbed to injury in pre-season football, Jackson has managed only 7 goals in 16 premier league outings, with just three of those involvements as substitute. His signing has not only failed to help the West Londoners curtail the continuing marksmanship problem at Stamford Bridge, and Chelsea may again fail to land Champions League football next term.
With the prospect of Champions League football next term looking rather elusive, Chelsea’s best chance to sign the hot and in demand Napoli striker may be during the fast approaching January transfer season, just as the top priority for the Nigeria forward is UEFA champions League football. Osimhen will not be inclined to move to a team that will not feature in Champions League competition, sources close to the player claim.
