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Victor Osimhen has demanded a break clause as part of his deal with Galatasaray which would allow him to join Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool in the January transfer window, according to reports in Turkey.
Chelsea stepped up talks with Napoli and Osimhen in the closing stages of the summer transfer window last week but were unable to reach an agreement to sign the Nigeria international before Friday’s deadline.
Osimhen has now opted to join Galatasaray on loan for the remainder of the season with the Turkish champions agreeing to pay the Napoli striker’s salary, worth around €210,000 (£176,000) a week, in full in return for no loan fee.
The 25-year-old was greeted by Galatasaray supporters after arriving in Istanbul in the early hours of Tuesday morning in order to complete his medical and finalise his transfer.
Osimhen had been holding out for a move to the Premier League having turned down the chance to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli, whose €80 million (£67.3m) offer was accepted by Napoli last month.
And according to reports in Turkey, Osimhen has still left the door open for a potential switch to a Premier League club in the January transfer window.
A Spor reports that Osimhen demanded during his negotiations with Galatasaray that his loan deal could be terminated in January if Napoli receive a bid from one of 10 specified clubs.
Turkish reporter Kagan Dursun adds that Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Bayern Munich are among the teams on Osimhen’s list.
Meanwhile, Fabrizio Romano reports that Osimhen’s release clause with Napoli has been lowered to €75m (£63.2m), while the Serie A club have the option to extend the striker’s contract until 2027 if he is not sold next summer.
As part of their agreement with Napoli, Galatasaray do not have the option to buy Osimhen at the end of the season.
Osimhen had been pushing to leave Napoli since the start of the summer and had been left out of every pre-season fixture by head coach Antonio Conte.
Speaking after his side’s 2-1 win over Parma on Saturday, Conte made it clear that he had no plans to reintegrate Osimhen if he had stayed at Napoli.
‘No, this is the team. This is the group,’ Conte said.
‘We made decisions. I mentioned coherence before. Those who are not consistent don’t respect the rules. I repeat, respect to the club. The president proved consistent despite losing important money, credit where credit is due.
‘The club were consistent, knowing that if the situation had unlocked earlier, we would all have been advantaged. As I said, we’ve started rebuilding. Good players arrived. They were on the table. It took us time to understand and think about it, but we signed them, and I am happy.
‘We didn’t do everything and it’s okay but I think the club did well.’
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