Chelsea told they must make a ‘crazy bid’ to sign Serie A superstar chased by Arsenal, Real Madrid

Reputed transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano has revealed that only a ‘crazy bid’ would see Chelsea sign Napoli goal machine Victor Osimhen in January.

The Nigerian international is being chased by some of the biggest clubs in Europe after dazzling in Serie A and the Blues are very keen on him.

Mauricio Pochettino has hinted in recent interviews that Chelsea are indeed looking to sign a new striker, and that is no surprise given their lacklustre start to the season.

The London club have won just four of their 13 Premier League matches so far and as it stands, find themselves in 11th place in the table.

Summer striker signing Nicolas Jackson has scored six goals in 12 league appearances. Christopher Nkunku is yet to feature due to injury but is expected to return soon.

By contrast, Osimhen has scored six goals in nine Serie A appearances so far. Last term, he scored a stunning 26 goals in 32 league outings.

Several centre-forwards have been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge recently but Osimhen has long been considered to be their top target.

Arsenal, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and others are also interested in Osimhen, however, so Chelsea face competition for his signature.

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Osimhen unlikely to leave Napoli in January; race is ‘all open’

Chelsea have now been dealt another blow in their pursuit of Osimhen, with Romano saying he doesn’t expect him to leave Napoli this winter.

Writing for Caught Offside, the reputed transfer journo said: “There’s no change to the Victor Osimhen situation guys.

“I keep repeating the same thing regarding January, and that is that I don’t expect the player to be made available by Napoli at that time.

“Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis seems fairly confident that his player will stay, suggesting that Osimhen’s new contract, offered last summer, is ready to be signed.

“My information is that, at the moment, the contract extension is not guaranteed yet, so it remains all open.

“The Serie A side will keep insisting that they don’t want Osimhen to leave early in the new year, so it will need to be a crazy bid in order to tempt Napoli to do business.

“Otherwise, Osimhen’s situation is set to become a hot topic for the summer transfer window.”

Previous reports have suggested that Napoli would only consider bids of over £120m for Osimhen in January.

Unless Chelsea make an offer in that region, it seems they will have to wait until the end of the season to get their top striker target.

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