With Victor Osimhen’s involvement in off the field battles in recent time, there are strong indications that the Super Eagles striker, may have lost the chance to play in England this coming season.
Although Osimhen’s Italian club, Napoli, are believed to be considering lowering their asking price on their Nigerian marksman, some of the previous teams linked to the player have now adopted lukewarm attitude in the face of his social media ‘wars’.
Before this development, Napoli had fixed Osimhen’s transfer fee at €140million before it was dropped to €120million. But news by Italian sporting media yesterday now put the new asking fee at €100million.
Osimhen has been one of the most sought-after players in the last two transfer windows by some of the biggest clubs in Europe but chose to stay with the former Serie A champions where he’s a cult hero.
It was quite understandable. Osimhen was clinical in front of goal, providing 76 goals and 16 assists in 133 appearances for Napoli since he joined the club from Lille in France.
According to an Italian media outlet, getfootballnewsitaly.com, Napoli are now ready to lower the asking price on their Nigerian star. It further confirmed that top English clubs including Arsenal and Chelsea have pulled the plug, insisting that the price was still way too high for Osimhen and have dropped their bid.
Previously, Chelsea, Arsenal, PSG, and Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) were the clubs most interested in signing him. Osimhen favoured a transfer to the Premier League.
With English clubs now uninterested and are looking at other options, this could have informed Napoli’s decision to lower their asking fee. This now leaves Osimhen with the option of moving to PSG or Saudi Arabia, where a bumper deal is waiting for him. The Nigerian appears not interested in both directions.
With the Nigerian striker’s contract expiring in two years, the Partenopeans are now desperate to cash out by letting him go.
Chelsea are believed to be searching for a striker below 23 years; Manchester United already have Rasmus Hojlund; while Newcastle have Alexander Isak. Arsenal are now his only available option for a destination in the English Premier League.
If the status quo remains, Osimhen could just find himself at PSG next season to fill the void left by Kylian Mbappe who moved over to Real Madrid on a free transfer.
By Femi Solaja with agency report
