- Chelsea are not thought to be pursuing a move for the highly-rated Napoli star
- Osimhen’s future is uncertain amid pre-season woes and interest from clubs
Napoli star Victor Osimhen could still find himself in the Premier League despite Chelsea effectively ending their pursuit of the Nigerian as they press on with a move for Samu Omorodion.
Mail Sport revealed talks between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid are advancing over Omorodion, who is set to cost the Blues a cool £30million despite scoring just nine goals from 35 LaLiga appearances in a loan stint with Alaves.
The deal for Omorodion would be separate to Conor Gallagher’s move the other way, with the midfielder jetting into the Spanish capital to undergo a medical with Atletico Madrid ahead of a £33.7m move.
Chelsea had been heavily linked with a move for Osimhen in recent windows, with a swap deal involving Romelu Lukaku plus cash floated.
However, the Serie A side refused to budge on Osimhen’s £111m release clause.
Victor Osimhen faces an uncertain future at Napoli amid interest from Arsenal and PSG
With Chelsea moving on from Osimhen, Sky Italy claims Arsenal could press ahead with a move for the Nigerian marksman.
The report claims the Gunners, along with Paris Saint-Germain and clubs in Saudi Arabia, all hold an interest in Osimhen, who has scored 76 goals in 133 appearances for Napoli.
Despite the riches on offer in Saudi Arabia, the report claims Osimhen is not enthused by the prospect of playing in the Middle East.
The 25-year-old is yet to feature in a single pre-season game for Napoli under new boss Antonio Conte as his time in Italy appears increasingly likely to end sooner rather than later.
Should Arsenal trigger Osimhen’s eye-watering release clause, it would shatter the club’s record transfer fee just 12 months after they forked out £105m for star midfielder Declan Rice.
The signing of Osimhen would also represent a major statement of intent from Gunners boss Mikel Arteta in his bid to stop Manchester City from winning a fifth-straight Premier League title.
Osimhen has not featured in pre-season under new Napoli boss Antonio Conte
Arteta may need extra firepower to stop Man City from winning the Premier League title
Osimhen would also bring plenty of firepower to an Arsenal attack that has relied heavily on the contributions of star winger Bukayo Saka.
Arteta often deployed Kai Havertz, an attacking midfielder by trade, or Gabriel Jesus up top last season but neither provided the goal haul required to dethrone City.
