The Blues are believed to be in talks over what would be a very shrewd transfer for the Napoli hitman, but not all is as it seems
Chelsea's never-ending search for a capable No.9 has led them to Napoli's Victor Osimhen, as the Premier League club have seemingly stepped up their longstanding interest in the Nigerian, who has made it clear he wants to leave Italy. According to , the clubs are locked in negotiations over a remarkable swap deal that would see Osimhen move to Stamford Bridge on loan, while £97.5 million ($125m) flop Romelu Lukaku heads in the other direction on a permanent basis.
Even if Osimhen isn't signed on a permanent transfer, bringing him in and finally ridding themselves of Lukaku would be viewed as a very shrewd piece of business from Chelsea's transfer specialists, sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart. It would be a timely deal, too, as a young side has made a disappointing start to pre-season under new head coach Enzo Maresca.
But is this potential transfer too good to be true from a Chelsea perspective? An agent's intervention suggests that may well be the case, but this is a deal they should be pushing for nonetheless.
Getty ImagesGuaranteed goals
It is probably a misconception that Osimhen is a rampant goal-scorer who has been bagging 30+ times a season in Serie A. Perceptions were certainly skewed by his prolific 2022-23 season as he fired Napoli to a first Scudetto in 30 years with 26 strikes in 32 Serie A appearances, as well as five more in the Champions League.
Who knows, he could adapt seamlessly to the Premier League and reach similar heights, but while that season looks like something of an anomaly, he should be a reliable source of goals whatever happens. Osimhen has consistently hit double-figures in recent years, and given Mauricio Pochettino helped Chelsea collectively rediscover their goal-scoring touch last season as plenty of players across the squad contributed, Osimhen should be able to supplement their output nicely – something that could end up being the difference between finishing sixth and fourth.
On paper he boasts all the attributes required to succeed in English football and follow in the footsteps of some great Chelsea strikers, capable of physically dominating his marker and explosive finishing in the same vein as Didier Drogba and Diego Costa.
AdvertisementGettyValuable experience
In a departure from their recent transfer strategy, at just 25 Osimhen would become one of the most experienced members of Chelsea's squad. The Blues have deployed a policy of almost exclusively going after good value, high-potential young players this summer, signing the likes of Marc Guiu (18), Renato Veiga (20) and Omari Kellyman (18), but realistically they need more experience if they want to compete next season.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Tosin Adarabioyo – aged 25 and 26, respectively – have also been added for £30 million cumulatively, but neither has played for an elite club or in the Champions League. With the average age of the squad alarmingly young at 23, Chelsea could certainly do with some more experienced heads around.
Despite potentially still being short of his peak, Osimhen brings that know-how and nous that the Blues and Maresca will be looking for; a Scudetto winner with Napoli, he has five strong Champions League campaigns under his belt, as well as a season in Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga. At international level he is Nigeria's talisman, carrying the weight of a football-obsessed country on his shoulders.
Getty Risk and reward
However, even though the deal is a proposed loan with an option to buy, it doesn't come without an element of risk for a club with a history of terrible striker signings and forgettable loans. Indeed, Chelsea will not want to be the butt of the joke once again.
Rather alarmingly, Osimhen's form fell off a cliff last season after he fired Napoli to the Scudetto in 2022-23, although he still managed to net 15 times in 25 league appearances during Gli Azzurri's feeble title defence that ended in a mid-table finish. Chelsea will hope he will be rejuvenated by a fresh start in England, but there will be an adaptation period that will require patience.
The Nigerian would also be replacing arguably the biggest transfer failure in Chelsea's history in the form of £100m ($128m) man Lukaku, who could head in the opposite direction. That in itself should serve as a warning to Osimhen, but he will also likely inherit the 'cursed' No.9 shirt that has weighed so heavily on the likes of Alvaro Morata, Fernando Torres and the Belgian.
Chelsea's history of underwhelming loan deals is also reason for concern; recent failed short-term employees include Joao Felix, Saul Niguez, Denis Zakaria and Gonzalo Higuain. Mateo Kovacic, who now plies his trade for Man City, is pretty much their only success story in the loan market, and Chelsea will be desperate for Osimhen to buck the trend too.
Getty/GOALNo strings attached
However, depending on the structure of the agreement, Chelsea will probably view a loan for Osimhen as relatively low risk. The hope will be that he and Nicolas Jackson, who enjoyed a productive season but is not ready to lead the line alone, share the goal-scoring burden and that by the end of the season he has done enough to justify triggering the buy option, but that won't necessarily mean he'll be required to score 30 times.
A whole season, rather than six months, will give the striker time to settle and adapt to the rigours of English football, but if the move does not work out – amid the inevitable ridicule – the club can simply pass up the option to sign him permanently. They will hope it does not come to that, though.
Although his reputation has taken something of a hit, evidenced by a lack of transfer interest from most of Europe's elite clubs apart from Paris Saint-Germain, a loan for a striker of Osimhen's quality makes sense for a club that is in the midst of a gruelling rebuild. If it works out, it will look like a masterstroke from their transfer negotiators.
The player has spoken openly about his admiration for the Premier League and claimed he knew where his future lay, saying earlier this year: "The Premier League is one of the biggest leagues in the world. I want to finish the season with Napoli strong then come up with the decision I've already made."
During his hot streak in 2023 he admitted: "I'm working so hard to make sure that I achieve my dream of playing in the Premier League some day. But like I said, it's a process and I just want to keep on this momentum and continue to do well."