Arsenal, Chelsea, and PSG’s interest in Osimhen gone cold because of Napoli’s demand

Napoli are forced to deal with an unexpected problem this summer, as, despite links with Arsenal, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and more, no offers have arrived for Victor Osimhen.

The striker was only given his massive €10m per season salary with the proviso that he would be allowed to leave this summer, a year after winning the Scudetto as Capocannoniere of Serie A.

That is also why the release clause was added to the contract for €120-130m, with the assumption that a Premier League club would jump at the chance to sign the Nigeria international.

However, things have not gone to plan, so Napoli and Osimhen could well be stuck with each other for a little while longer.

La Gazzetta dello Sport points out that although there has been interest from the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, and Paris Saint-Germain, none of them deigned to make a genuine proposal or push deeper into negotiations.

Transfer pundit Fabrizio Romano even suggests that Chelsea was never really interested in Osimhen, as he does not fit the profile of the striker they are looking for.

Napoli cannot sign a replacement until they know that their current star center-forward is leaving.

Rather than go after Osimhen, PSG instead seems to be focusing on his Napoli teammate Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, a player who new coach Antonio Conte would rather keep at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

It is also a big financial problem for Napoli, who found themselves out of Europe after finishing 10th in Serie A and had no real intention of paying Osimhen €10m per season wages.

When he signed the contract at Christmas 2023, the idea was for him to leave in the summer.

Osimhen scored 15 goals while assisting another three in 25 league games in the last season.

Elsewhere, HITC is reporting that there is an apparent impasse between Chelsea and Napoli about Osimhen’s asking price. The Blues are not ready to trigger the Nigerian’s massive release clause, as Napoli chief Aurelio De Laurentiis is not willing to accept anything lower, including installments for his star attacker.

He has been linked to Saudi Arabia.

Apart from the Middle Eastern sides, there are fewer chances that Arsenal or PSG will look to pay anything closer to the release clause. Chelsea are in the same boat, as they are not prepared to trigger his release clause to sign the striker.

Chelsea are open to bringing a new striker in the summer, as a No.9 seems like their priority area to strengthen. With Osimhen unlikely to join the Blues, they are already looking at alternatives like Arsenal target Benjamin Sesko.

There are doubts about whether Sesko will join, considering how strong the links to Arsenal have grown. However, Chelsea have a history of hijacking important deals at the last minute, something they could even try with the Sesko transfer.