Victor Osimhen: Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea on list of 10 break-clause clubs as January fee is fixed

Napoli’s insistence that Victor Osimhen will never play a game for the club again will gift one lucky club the chance to sign the 114-goal striker in the January window for a bargain fee, with seven of the 10 clubs named in his break-clause arrangement with Galatasaray coming to light.

The Nigerian marksman was one of the most in-demand players over the summer window after Napoli made it clear they were open to his sale, and with the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, PSG and then, more latterly, Saudi Arabian side, Al-Ahli, all looking into potential deals. And while the Blues held talks with the player over a deadline day transfer, they were unable to agree a deal in a turn of events that left Al-Ahli are the front of the queue and agreeing terms over a deal with the Serie A side.

But with the 25-year-old seemingly holding out for the Premier League, Al-Ahli shifted their focus and instead pushed through the signing of Ivan Toney from Brentford for a fee reaching £40m instead.

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And with Napoli signing Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea to replace Osimhen in their squad, even handing him his coveted No 9 shirt, the former Lille man was left kicking his heels and facing an unexpected spell in the wilderness, pending the opening of the January transfer window.

However, it has since emerged that the player has agreed to sign for Turkish giants Galatasaray on a season-long loan deal, with an annoucement over the move edging ever closer.

But as part of that arrangement, Osimhen‘s agent has managed to include a break-clause in his deal that will allow him to exit early from Istanbul if one of 10 elite sides makes a move for his services in January.

Osimhen’s next club: Ten sides given break clause notice

The Super Lig club have also agreed to pay Osimhem’s wages in full – understood to be €210,000 a week (£176,000 / €230,000) – for the duration of his stay there.

But quite how long that will be remains to be seen, with Osimhen already setting his sights on his next move and having put 10 teams on notice over a potential January move as part of a clause in the loan contract.

Now TEAMtalk has discovered the identity of seven of those sides, with three Premier League team – Liverpool, Arsenal and long-term suitors Chelsea – all on the list.

Whether any of that trio make a move for him remains to be seen.

And while Chelsea’s interest is likely to remain, Arsenal opted against a striker move in the summer, instead opting to give summer 2023 signing Kai Havertz a more central role over the 2024/25 campaign.

Liverpool, meanwhile, have since been credited with a deadline day approach, though ultimately decided to walk away from a prospective move.

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And in addition to that Premier League trio, we understand that Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have also making the cut.

Bargain fee for Osimhen revealed

With Napoli determined to move him on and offload the striker, who leaves Naples with a record of 76 goals in 133 appearances, in any which way they can, a number of top sources have now revealed the player’s exit clause has now been lowered to just €75m (£63.2m / €82.7m).

However, if Osimhen is not sold before the end of next summer’s window, Napoli have the right to extend his contract through to 2027 in order to protect their valuation of the star.

As part of his loan to Turkey, Galatasaray do not have an option to make the deal permanent, meaning the move to Istanbul is seen as a means to an end only for the striker, who has been left upset over his treatment by Napoli.

The Serie A side, in turn, claims Osimhen has been working to secure a move away from the 2023 Italian champions all summer and had been overlooked for each and every Napoli game over the pre-season programme.

And speaking after their dramatic late 2-1 win over Parma on Saturday, Conte made it clear he had no plans to intergrate the player back into the Napoli squad were he to stay.

“No, this is the team. This is the group,” Conte said.

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“We made decisions. I mentioned coherence before. Those who are not consistent don’t respect the rules. I repeat, respect to the club. The president proved consistent despite losing important money, credit where credit is due.

“The club were consistent, knowing that if the situation had unlocked earlier, we would all have been advantaged. As I said, we’ve started rebuilding. Good players arrived. They were on the table. It took us time to understand and think about it, but we signed them, and I am happy.

“We didn’t do everything and it’s okay but I think the club did well.”