Napoli should almost certainly have sold Victor Osimhen last summer. They’d just won Serie A, and the striker was one of the best players in Europe, having found the back of the net 31 times that season.
Instead, Napoli chief Aurelio De Laurentiis was too concerned with his own ego. Asking unreasonable amounts, he managed to scare all the interest away and there’s not been a lot of clubs returning this summer.
Napoli had a disaster of a season, which was also largely down to ADL’s pride, but Osimhen still managed 17 goals in 32 appearances. He missed a chunk of the campaign due to AFCON.
Chelsea have been the Premier League club by far linked the most with the striker and on the final day of the window, with hours to go, some still have confidence he’ll end up at Stamford Bridge.
Saudi Club Al Ahli have been working on finalising a deal, but may now go for Ivan Toney instead. CalcioNapoli24 have quoted Claudio Anellucci, who they describe as a FIFA agent, and he shared his confidence regarding Chelsea: “They’re playing arm wrestling. Yesterday, I argued that Chelsea were closer, for several reasons, including financially. On the other hand, I’ve heard of strong offers from the Arab team.
“I know that the club has reached an agreement with Napoli for a significant sum with bonuses attached, and had also reached an agreement with the player for a total sum of €120m plus bonuses: I really believe that something has run aground on the bonuses, or, perhaps, some restrictions have been placed on the salary and these bonuses have been proposed. I continue to maintain that in the end the player will go to Chelsea.”
Osimhen’s links to Chelsea go back some time, and it’s been mentioned on countless occasions that he’d quite fancy a move to the Premier League.
Napoli managing to confuse his situation so much, assisted by an agent who as at times felt like a spectator, has turned the situation into quite an odd one.
