Blow to Chelsea or Manchester United as Napoli wants Osimhen stay

Blow to Chelsea or Manchester United as Napoli wants Osimhen stay

Chelsea and Manchester United both have a strong interest in bringing a world-class striker to their respective clubs in the summer, but Napoli's Victor Osimhen seems out of the equation for now.

After a strong season in Serie A where he guided Napoli to their first Scudetto in over 30 years with his 25 goals, Osimhen has naturally attracted the interest of Europe's elite.

Chelsea and Manchester United have both been linked, but, as Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports, suggests, it will take a huge offer from either side to tempt Napoli into selling their prized asset.

"Victor Osimhen is going to be tough," Jacobs told FourFourTwo on June 1. "Napoli don’t want to sell: there’s obviously a variety of suitors for him.

"I think people forget with Osimhen that Napoli paid a deal that included an upfront fee, bonus fees and the valuation of player swaps, so the reason why they’re asking for so much money if they entertain a sale – and it is a big if – is that ultimately, they want something close to double what they paid for the player and they paid a massive amount of money for him.

"Of course, there’s admiration for one of the form players in Europe at the moment."

While the true fee of Osimhen's transfer to Napoli is unknown, it is valued at around £80 million when considering the other aspects to signing him from Lille in 2020.

With that in mind, Jacobs is suggesting the Nigerian will cost close to £160m, a vastly larger outlay both clubs would likely consider - especially when he only has two years remaining on his contract. Instead, Jacobs highlights other options the two sides are looking at.

"Dusan Vlahovic is an option. Manchester United are also looking at him. It’s a very real possibility that he leaves Juventus and the situation will become clear over the coming weeks."