Bargain Victor Osimhen fee named as Chelsea push to finally sign top striker target

Chelsea remain determined to make Victor Osimhen their new centre-forward and are plotting a cut-price deal for the Galatasaray loanee, according to a report.

As per Football Insider, Chelsea chiefs are ‘working in the background’ to strike an agreement for Osimhen, who was rescued by Galatasaray in the summer after moves to Stamford Bridge, Paris Saint-Germain and Saudi Arabia failed to materialise. There is a ‘real possibility’ Chelsea will add the Napoli outcast to their squad in January, and for a bargain fee, too.

The report states that Enzo Maresca’s side are gunning to land Osimhen for just £40million (€47.9m / US$53.5m) when the transfer window re-opens.

That is far less than the huge sums which were previously required to prise Osimhen away from Napoli.

During the summer, the Nigerian’s potential suitors were told to match his colossal €130m (£108.6m / US$145.2m) release clause.

Following confirmation of Osimhen’s loan switch to Galatasaray, that exit clause was lowered to €75m (£62.7m / US$83.8m).

Justifying Chelsea’s cut-price £40m move for Osimhen, Football Insider claim that Napoli will be tempted to accept such a bid as the striker will only have 18 months left on his contract come January. However, Osimhen accepted new terms with Napoli before jetting off to Turkey, and his contract with the Serie A club now runs until June 2027.

As such, it is likely that Napoli will tell Chelsea to get far closer to Osimhen’s new £62.7m release clause before sanctioning his departure.

Chelsea have Victor Osimhen alternatives

This latest report comes after TEAMtalk revealed on Tuesday that Chelsea have initiated new contact with Osimhen’s camp as they look to gauge whether he is still open to joining them.

Sources have also confirmed to TEAMtalk that Juventus have joined Chelsea in the race for the 25-year-old, as their manager Thiago Motta has been unimpressed by current No 9 Dusan Vlahovic so far.

Chelsea do have other striker targets on their radar, should they either miss out on Osimhen to Juve or be priced out of a move once again.

TEAMtalk understands Blues chiefs have drawn up a list of alternatives which includes Bayer Leverkusen’s Victor Boniface, Sporting Lisbon ace Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko of RB Leipzig.

Fabrizio Romano states that Aston Villa star Jhon Duran remains of interest to Chelsea, having been looked at by the club during the summer.

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Meanwhile, Chelsea’s pursuit of Leipzig defender Castello Lukeba has hit a snag as a number of major clubs are ready to provide them with competition for his services.

Newcastle United, Villa and Real Madrid are just some of the other sides who are monitoring the centre-back’s situation.

Plus, Romano claims that it will be difficult to convince Leipzig to part ways with Lukeba in January as the Bundesliga outfit already lost Mohamed Simakan to Al-Nassr over the summer.

Elsewhere, ex-Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic has been tipped to return to England by achieving a big move. The Italian media suggest that Liverpool have shortlisted Pulisic as they remain uncertain over whether Mo Salah will extend his spell on Merseyside.

Liverpool officials were clearly impressed when Pulisic bagged the opening goal for AC Milan in their Champions League clash earlier this month, though Liverpool did come out 3-1 winners.

The USA attacker has ‘relaunched himself’ with Milan and is now worth more than double the £16.6m (€20m / US$22.3m) Chelsea received for him.

Liverpool will need to pay upwards of £33.3m (€40m / US$44.6m) to convince Milan to sell Pulisic.

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Osimhen’s brilliant career so far