Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has stated the conditions for the club’s sale of Osimhen this summer in the wake of Premier League interest in the Nigeria national football team striker.
Victor Osimhen continues to attract massive interest from several big clubs with Chelsea and Manchester United leading the line for the 24-year-old’s signature. A childhood fan and a friend of Chelsea icon Didier Drogba, the former LOSC Lille man is biased towards a Premier League move, particularly to Stamford Bridge where he will have the opportunity to replicate his idol’s achievement for the Blues.
The club is well aware of this and his performances have convinced them to go after him, alongside Manchester United, who are in dire need of a striker to complete their team. The roadblock they both face in Osimhen’s signing, asides from competition from each other, is Napoli’s unwillingness to let the player go.
After winning their first Scudetto in 33 years thanks to his incredible performances which saw him become the first African to win the Capocannoniere award for the Italian Serie A’s top scorer, they are not ready to let him move on. De Laurentiis had previously slapped a hefty price tag on the Nigerian striker to dissuade clubs before totally going back on that decision.
The club then started the process of making Osimhen the Serie A’s highest-paid player, as reports claimed they were preparing a contract to extend his contract beyond 2025 with a bumper salary offer. As the pressure to sell the striker increases and the pressure to build a squad capable of defending their Serie A win, De Laurentiis seems to have reconsidered his stance.
New reports now indicate that the septuagenarian film and business mogul has stated that while Osimhen’s contract extension remains their priority, they will listen to offers “they cannot refuse”.
“We already talked to Osimhen before the Scudetto celebration, so we already have a basic agreement on a two-year extension of his contract,” the Napoli president said. “I have said for a while that Osimhen has to stay. Then, if an offer came in that I could not refuse for the good of Napoli, then we would consider it, as is only natural.”
De Laurentiis is looking at offers in the region of £130 million to £150 million for Osimhen, which definitely is not a cost many clubs will be willing to bear.
This valuation had already ruled Bayern Munich out, although reports still claim that the Bavarians are exploring the possibility of signing the Nigeria international. If they choose to make a move and succeed, Osimhen will be the most expensive signing in their history.
Osimhen, meanwhile has continued to make himself attractive to suitors. His brace secured a ticket for Nigeria to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Ivory Coast on Sunday afternoon, making him the outright top scorer in the qualifiers stage and the favourite for the tournament’s golden boot come February 2024.
