Exclusive: Chelsea line up big-money bid for Ivan Toney as Victor Osimhen race rumbles on

Chelsea are ready to send a ‘strong’ offer for Brentford striker Ivan Toney should they miss out on Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, per TEAMtalk sources.

Osimhen, 25, has been the Blues top target for much of the summer but luring him away from Naples has proved incredibly difficult thus far.

We revealed on Wednesday that Chelsea are prepared to make Osimhen their new top earner in order to get a deal done, but Saudi side Al-Ahli are offering him better salary terms.

They are willing to pay the striker £400,000 per week and have submitted a bid of €70m (£58.9m) for him.

Journalist Gianluigi Longari suggests that Al-Ahli are willing to insert a release clause of €50m (£42m) into Osimhen’s contract but it will only become active after two seasons, and sources have revealed to TEAMtalk that this is accurate.

The race for Osimhen is still open and his preference is to stay in Europe, but a move to Saudi cannot be ruled out due to the huge sums being offered.

TEAMtalk sources are adamant that Chelsea WILL sign a striker before the transfer window slams shut and it is ‘either Toney or Osimhen.’

Toney is ready to leave Brentford this summer and is open to the idea of joining Chelsea, with Man Utd also linked with the England international.

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Chelsea prepare big-money Ivan Toney bid

We can reveal that Chelsea are willing to offer £50m for Toney should they miss out on Osimhen and that fee would match Brentford’s price demands.

The 28-year-old notched an impressive 21 goals in 2022/23, while last term his progress was disrupted by an eight-month suspension for gambling breaches.

Enzo Maresca is keen to bring in more competition for Nicolas Jackson and views Toney as a top candidate to lead his front line this season.

Arsenal are also keen to sign a new striker before the close of the transfer window and Toney has been on their shortlist for several weeks.

TEAMtalk sources say that Chelsea have done ‘more work’ on a deal for Toney thus far though and they are ahead of their London rivals in the race at this stage.

Mikel Arteta is keen to bring in a replacement for Eddie Nketiah, whose £30m move to Crystal Palace is expected to be officially announced imminently.

Chelsea will continue to push for Osimhen until the end of deadline day but Toney is lined up to join the Blues should they fail to land the Nigerian.

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