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Tony MoganPublished Aug 15, 2024, 8:35am|Updated Aug 15, 2024, 8:36am
Chelsea believe they are close to landing Victor Osimhen having offered Romelu Lukaku plus one other Blues star as part of their bid to get the deal across the line.
Osimhen has asked to leave Naples this summer with Chelsea leading the race for his signature.
The west London side remain eager to sign a no.9 this summer and after a deal for Atletico Madrid’s Samu Omorodion collapsed, the Napoli star has once again emerged as their top target.
Former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is desperate to bring Romelu Lukaku to the club to replace the Nigeria international with talks over a potential swap deal taking place in recent weeks.
The Sun report Chelsea are now ‘on the verge’ of completing the deal with Conte eager for attacking midfielder Cesare Casadei to be included in the deal. Napoli also want an addition £39million on top to give the deal the green light.
Chelsea signed the highly-rated Casadei from Inter Milan in August 2022, spending half a season long loan at Reading before joining Enzo Maresca at Leicester City last season before being recalled in January.
Osimhen meanwhile has been on Chelsea’s radar for some time with Maresca supporting the club’s pursuit of the striker.
The club have been unwilling to meet Napoli’s asking price of £110million but Conte’s desire to bring in Lukaku has offered another option.
Napoli’s sporting director, Giovanni Manna, travelled to London on Tuesday for talks with Chelsea over a deal for Lukaku having revealed Oismhen to leave before the end of the summer transfer window.
‘Victor Osimhen has asked to leave the club. He wants to go,’ Manna said.
‘The situation is clear, there were already chances for his exit last summer. Victor wants to leave. We will see in the next 20 days.’
Chelsea have already signed 10 new players this summer with Pedro Neto among them, arriving from Wolves in a £54million deal.
Conor Gallagher meanwhile is still waiting to learn his fate with his proposed move to Atletico Madrid on hold after a deal for Omorodion to join the Premier League side fell through.
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