According to reports, Premier League heavyweights Arsenal have given up on €130 million striker Victor Osimhen of Napoli because of speculations of a player exchange.
Club president Aurelio de Laurentiis has stated that Osimhen would likely end his career with the 2022–23 Serie A winners this summer, following four excellent seasons at Napoli.
The Nigerian international has been a hard player for the Partenopei to let go of, and the two sides in December worked out a new deal that would keep him with the team until the summer of 2026.
Before the 2024–2025 season, De Laurentiis has resigned himself to losing the former Lille player to one of Europe’s financial heavyweights because Osimhen’s contract also has a release clause of about €130 million (£110.6 million).
READ ALSO: Chelsea Planning To Sign Osimhen From Napoli In A Swap Deal
A few teams, including Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Paris Saint-Germain, have been predicted to move for Osimhen; however, Real Madrid is unlikely to pursue the player given their recent acquisition of Kylian Mbappe. It has also been stated that Osimhen’s major requirement—being a striker who can connect play and drop deep—is something that new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is opposed to the 25-year-old signing.
PSG and Arsenal, who were reportedly told that a part-exchange deal including Emile Smith Rowe and Takehiro Tomiyasu may have been their ticket to an agreement, could have therefore engaged in a two-way fight.
But Arsenal has told Napoli, according to Sky Italia, that they would not give in to their demands for £110.6 million—especially after they broke their own transfer record last year by paying £105 million for Declan Rice.
De Laurentiis may have to give up on his demands that the Nigerian’s release clause be fulfilled in full since Arsenal, like the majority of Osimhen’s admirers, still think highly of the striker but cannot afford to pay a nine-figure cost.
After Antonio Conte joined Napoli, the pressure to accept a cheaper sum for the Nigerian has increased because Conte wants to teach Romelu Lukaku of Chelsea again in one of his first moves as head coach.
Due to Osimhen’s disinterest in transferring to Saudi Arabia and the fact that PSG would save €200 million (£170.1 million) in annual salary now that Mbappe has left, PSG are suddenly seen as the favourites to recruit Osimhen.
With 26 goals, Osimhen topped the Serie A scoring records in 2022–2023 and scored 15 goals in 2023–2024 despite missing a significant portion of the season due to injury and the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
