Victor Osimhen’s Napoli contract talks at a stalemate
Napoli are yet to find a breakthrough with Victor Osimhen’s contract talks. The striker is linked with a move to Manchester United and Chelsea this summer.
According to the reports from Corriere dello Sport, the biggest argument between Osimhen and Napoli is regarding the release clause. The Scudetto champions want to increase his release clause up to £173m ($222m), whereas Osimhen doesn’t want to see the evaluation go beyond £100m ($128m).
Osimhen’s currently has two years left on his deal at Napoli. There have been speculations indicating that Napoli’s intention to establish a higher release clause is connected to a sell-on fee that was part of the £70m ($90m) agreement when they signed him from Lille. A huge sum of money will be coming to the French club if the striker leaves the Serie A champions this summer.
As a result of this contract deadlock, Manchester United and Chelsea have both been alerted. Manchester United are in the hunt for a new No. 9 after they refused to make the permanent extension of Wout Weghorst. Moreover, Cristiano Ronaldo left the club midway through last season. Although they are keeping their tabs on the 24-year-old, they understand that they would need to generate funds to make this deal possible. Hence, they will only go forward with this deal in a player-plus-cash situation.
On the other hand, Chelsea have signed Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal. However, they want another striker to give competition to the 22-year-old as they are keen to offload Romelu Lukaku this summer. The Blues have already confirmed the departure of Kai Havertz to Arsenal.
