“Present a scenario” – Top journalist tips Chelsea to repeat Christopher Nkunku trick with striker

A top journalist has this week tipped Chelsea to repeat the same wise trick they did when they recently signed Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig.

The Blues sorted out a deal early in the season for Nkunku to officially join in the summer. It was never reported officially of being a done deal whilst Nkunku was at Leipzig, but it was the worst kept secret in football and every outlet was reporting he was a Chelsea player who would join in the summer. And of course he did.

EXCLUSIVE! Victor Osimhen’s stance on whether he wants to join Chelsea or not – plus Chelsea’s current stance on signing him!

Journalist Ben Jacobs believes Chelsea could try and do the same with striker Victor Osimhen from Napoli, as the blues weigh up options to sign a new striker in 2024.

Osimhen isn’t thought to be available for sale, if he goes at all, until the summer rather than the January window. So if Chelsea want him, they will have to wait.

Writing in his exclusive Daily Briefing column for CaughtOffside, Jacobs said: “Osimhen is keen on a Premier League move and has spoken about how as a kid he owned both a Chelsea and Manchester United shirt, and used to watch Didier Drogba videos on YouTube to try and improve his game.

“Chelsea will be looking for an elite striker in 2024. They are prepared to wait until summer if they need to rather than move in January. There are a lot of links with Ivan Toney, but the price Brentford would require in January makes that quite difficult. It could be as high as £80m. And not everyone in Chelsea’s senior leadership or recruitment team feels Toney is the right choice, especially mid-season when he’s gone so long without playing.

“Osimhen is undoubtedly an option, and he’ll be (a least a bit) cheaper next summer compared to last. This could also present a scenario where, as with Christopher Nkunku, Chelsea try to pre-sign Osimhen in January for the summer in order to jump ahead of the market.

“But right now nothing is advanced because all interested clubs are simply trying to understand what Aurelio De Laurentiis will sell for since last summer he simply wouldn’t engage for anything under €150m. Now he may accept €120m.”