Chelsea and Arsenal transfer battle reignites as £110m-rated striker target demands summer move

Chelsea’s hopes of signing Napoli striker Victor Osimhen have just received a major boost as Antonio Conte looks to bring Romelu Lukaku to the Italian club.

As previously revealed, Conte has made Lukaku his top target to replace Osimhen, who hasn’t been involved in Napoli’s recent pre-season matches.

Sources have informed TEAMtalk transfer correspondent Rudy Galetti that senior figures at Chelsea hope Napoli will sanction the sale of Osimhen to fund their move.

Osimhen has a release clause of roughly £110m in his contract but they look likely to reduce their demands as the transfer window draws to a close.

Chelsea and Arsenal, along with Paris Saint-Germain, have been heavily linked with a move for the Nigeria international and an exit from Napoli seems inevitable.

Napoli’s director Giovanni Manna revealed in an interview on Saturday that the striker has formally asked to leave the club this summer.

“Victor Osimhen has asked to leave the club. He wants to go,” Manna said.

“The situation is clear, there were already chances for his exit last summer… Victor wants to leave. “We will see in the next 20 days.”

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Chelsea, Arsenal receive Osimhen boost

TEAMtalk has been informed that Chelsea’s interest in Osimhen remains despite that they are set to sign young forward Samu Omorodion from Atletico Madrid.

We understand that the Blues are planning to make one last attempt to sign the Napoli star once their £54m move for Wolves winger Pedro Neto is finalised.

Napoli are expected to drop their demands for Osimhen and reports suggest that Arsenal would be willing to spend £63m on him, so Chelsea will have to move quickly to win the race.

Arsenal are looking to sign a new centre-forward to replace Eddie Nketiah, who is keen to seal a move to Marseille before the window slams shut.

As we have consistently reported, Osimhen would be open to joining Chelsea or Arsenal this summer, while PSG’s interest also remains.

The 25-year-old fired Napoli to the Serie A title in 2022/23 by scoring an incredible 26 league goals in 32 appearances, before netting 15 in 25 matches last term.

The race for his signature is expected to heat up in the coming days so it will be interesting to see which club makes the first concrete bid.

If Chelsea are able to sell Lukaku to Napoli, that could give them an advantage in the race.

Lukaku has a £38m release clause in his contract and the suggestion is that Napoli would be willing to pay that if Osimhen is sold.

Discussions have already taken place between Chelsea and Napoli over a part-exchange deal for the two strikers.

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