Chelsea went as far as they could to sign Victor Osimhen according to Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol, with some reports suggesting the striker was demanding £330,000 per week.
The Blues had made Osimhen their number one target this summer and despite spending weeks in negotiations they were unable to reach an agreement with the Nigeria international.
Osimhen refused to take a pay cut in order to fit in with Chelsea’s wage structure and he will instead remain at Napoli, where he will likely remain frozen out until January unless a late offer comes in from Saudi with their transfer window open until Monday.
Chelsea did what they could to sign Osimhen
At one point it seemed Osimhen would end up at Al-Ahli after the Saudi side reached an agreement with Napoli and despite agreeing on financial terms with the player on a salary reportedly worth an eye watering £650,000 per week, they didn’t get the final green light from the striker on the move.
Chelsea will feel they presented reasonable offers to Osimhen, although you have to question the strategy as it should have been pretty clear from well before the final day of the window that he wasn’t prepared to compromise on his wages.
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Sky Sports reporter Solhekol suggested there were some reports that Osimhen wanted £330,000 per week and that Chelsea went as far as they could for the striker.
“I think they [Chelsea] pushed the boat out as far as they could, there were reports that Victor Osimhen was asking for something like £330,000 a week. I don’t think Chelsea were going to pay him that,” he told Sky Sports News.
The Blues clearly felt with Saudi suddenly off the table Osimhen would drop his demands and accept their offer rather than potentially play no football until January but it wasn’t to be.
Chelsea seemingly had no alternative options despite links to Ivan Toney and will have to make do with Nicolas Jackson and teenager Marc Guiu until January at the earliest, whilst Christopher Nkunku could also play down the middle.
