Napoli hoping for one last hurrah before Victor Osimhen’s inevitable transfer away

Napoli fans might not have long left to enjoy Victor Osimhen representing their shirt amid frequent links with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea ahead of the summer, so can he at least go out on a high with the Serie A giants by putting in a big performance against Barcelona next week?

Osimhen scored the equaliser against Barca in the first leg in Naples, cancelling out Robert Lewandowski’s opener, but there’s still all to play for in the second leg at the Nou Camp now that the away goals rule is a thing of the past. Rather than Xavi’s side having the edge ahead of the return fixture, it’s nicely poised for anything to happen.

Napoli fans will no doubt be desperate to get tickets to this game for what should be one of the most hotly anticipated games of their season, and perhaps a final chance to see what Osimhen can do for them on the very biggest stage.

Having fired Napoli to the title – their first in 30 years – last season, can the Nigeria international now step it up a level in Europe’s top club competition? The Italian champions won’t be among the favourites for the tournament, that’s for sure, but in Osimhen they have a real game-changer who can cause even the best sides big problems.

Osimhen transfer – what’s the latest?

Big clubs around Europe will also no doubt be keen to see how Osimhen copes in a big game like this, as it has the potential to add a few million more to his price tag this summer.

Of course, it has been widely reported that the 25-year-old has a release clause, possibly as high as €130m, but assuming that clubs won’t go quite that high, it will be interesting to see if he can score some big goals in this tournament to push suitors as close to Napoli’s asking price as possible.

Fabrizio Romano has strongly suggested that Chelsea are one of Osimhen’s main suitors, and if he has a good Champions League with Napoli it perhaps becomes that bit harder to imagine him accepting a move to the Blues when they’re not playing in Europe.

That could be good news for Arsenal’s pursuit of Osimhen, but at the same time it’s hard to see the Gunners splashing the cash in quite the same way, even if they have shown that kind of ambition recently with the Declan Rice deal.

A big game against Barca might just convince Arsenal and others that a crazy fee is actually well worth paying.