Chelsea propose swap deal with Napoli for Osimhen

Chelsea have reportedly approached Napoli to propose a player-plus-cash deal for their star striker Victor Osimhen during the summer transfer window.

The Partenopei retained the Nigerian’s services last summer following his unrivalled Serie A goalscoring campaign, netting 26 times to fire Napoli to the top-flight title.

Osimhen and his teammates have found the going much tougher this time around, though, ceding the title to Inter Milan with a whimper, and the 25-year-old has failed to hit his same goalscoring heights.

A hamstring injury and the Africa Cup of Nations have limited Osimhen’s game time, but he has still registered a respectable tally of 16 goals and four assists from 29 matches across all competitions.

The former Lille man was on song in April with three goals in four Serie A matches, and despite signing a new deal with Napoli in December, the Partenopei have resigned themselves to losing him this summer.

Club president Aurelio de Laurentiis has already confirmed that Osimhen will be leaving the club this summer, although it is still up to interested parties to trigger his release clause – believed to be in the region of £110m – or negotiate a lower fee with Napoli.

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With Chelsea treading a fine Financial Fair Play line due to their heavy losses, the Blues could not fork out such an astronomical amount without making a firesale, but they could supposedly try to kill two birds with one stone in their Osimhen pursuit.

According to Gianluca Di Marzio, the Blues are ready to offer their Italian counterparts the chance to sign Romelu Lukaku and an unnamed young player as part of a deal to bring Osimhen to Stamford Bridge.

Contacts have supposedly been opened between Napoli and Chelsea, who would also be willing to fork out between €80m (£68.6m) and €90m (£77.2m) in addition to parting ways with their two players.

However, Paris Saint-Germain are also working on a deal to sign last season’s Serie A top scorer, and his future is not Napoli’s top priority while they search for a new permanent head coach.

In contrast, clearing out the deadwood – a list which includes Lukaku – will be at the top of Chelsea’s agenda this summer, as they finally seek to sever ties with the 30-year-old striker for good.

After a prolific two-year spell with Inter Milan, Lukaku’s £97.5m return to West London began promisingly with three goals in as many matches, but his bombshell Sky Italia interview – in which he expressed his displeasure with Thomas Tuchel’s system – marked the beginning of his Chelsea downfall.

It has been almost exactly two years since the Belgian’s last game for Chelsea, since when he has also burned bridges with Inter Milan and rediscovered his golden touch with Roma, sitting on 20 goals for the season in all competitions.

Italian football is where the former Manchester United man thrives, so there ought to be no doubt that Lukaku will enter the latter stages of his career in Serie A, although a permanent switch to Roma is not expected to come to fruition.

As a result, filling Osimhen’s boots at Napoli will ostensibly be the most realistic option for the 30-year-old, whom Chelsea are prepared to take a significant financial hit on.