TeamTalk have continued their run of interesting transfer exclusives with a piece by Italian football insider Rudy Galetti.
He reports on Chelsea’s chase for Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, claiming that manager Mauricio Pochettino’s departure has does nothing to discourage the Blues from keeping the Nigerian as their main target this summer.
He adds that Chelsea “are willing to pay the centre-forward slightly more than what he earns at Napoli,” which is known to be €295,000 a week (Capology).
Apparently Chelsea officials “know they need to make a huge investment to strengthen the attack”, and they see Osimhen as their “main target” He’s already given his “informal approval to a move” and is just hoping that the Blues can agree a deal with Napoli.
There have been “many months” of contacts between clubs and between Chelsea and the player, and despite PSG’s interest it feels like we could have a deal – if we’re willing to pay the eye watering sums involved.
An impossible gap to bridge for number crunchers
Most of this is old news, but what’s truly fascinating is the little detail about Osimhen’s potential wage. To us, that has always been a major issue when debating whether he actually would come to Chelsea. Even if the club were willing to stump up the €130m it would take to sign him, the wages would be a huge issue.
The club’s stated aim is to bring the wage bill down, and while they can certainly afford a couple of superstars, they’ve been seriously stung by the €325k a week deal they gave to Raheem Sterling as almost their first move after taking over.
Unless Sterling leaves unexpectedly, despite what this article says, it’s very difficult to imagine Osimhen getting the kind of crazy money it would take to get him to sign.