Victor Osimhen, and a potential exit from Napoli, continues to be a big story in the Italian media, especially in the media closest to the Naples club.
A mix of claims from Il Mattino and CalcioNapoli push Newcastle United to the front of the queue, but they make it clear that the transfer will not be easy. Aurelio De Laurentiis is in charge at Napoli, and he has a record of being tough on transfers, ready to put up a fight, and sometimes a very public one, when a player wants to leave against the club’s will.
NapoliCalcio say Newcastle are ‘ready to go crazy’ to secure the attacker’s signature. One of the issues is that Napoli spent a huge €80m to get the player from Lille, and will naturally want a return on that.
It’s not thought that the summer will be the optimum time, and therefore, the Serie A club would be looking to keep him for a further year. The 23-year-old has missed a chunk of matches this season after a serious cheekbone fracture, and his statistics aren’t as impressive as they would otherwise have been.
Regardless, he’s still managed 11 goals and four assists in 22 matches.
Il Mattino say the Magpies are ‘above all’ in the transfer race, leading the pack for the signing.
Napoli would like an auction, yet given the resources available to Newcastle United, there’s always the chance they could present a bid which manages to soften up even a hard negotiator like De Laurentiis.
