Chelsea could reportedly use Christian Pulisic or Romelu Lukaku as potential options to offer to Napoli in their pursuit of Victor Osimhen, reports caughtoffside.com.
The Blues have endured a miserable season this term, with goals a real issue after a lack of impact from the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Kai Havertz, while Lukaku has been out on loan at Inter Milan.
Lukaku was also poor for Chelsea last term and it could be that he’ll now be used by the west London giants as they weigh up players to try to tempt Napoli into selling Osimhen, according to the Daily Mail.
Pulisic is another name who could be on offer to Napoli, with the Mail stating that there is interest from the Serie A giants in the U.S. international. Like Lukaku, Pulisic has been a flop at Chelsea and it surely makes sense for the club to offload him this summer.
Osimhen would be a significant upgrade in Chelsea’s attack, with the Nigeria international scoring an impressive 23 goals in 28 league matches to fire his side to a first title in 33 years. But other reports say that Manchester United are in a stronger position to win the race for Osimhen.
Osimhen is likely to be a man in demand this summer, with the Manchester Evening News among sources recently naming the player as a target for Man Utd. Osimhen would undoubtedly be a great fit for the Red Devils’ needs right now, and it seems there’s a chance that talks with Bayern Munich aren’t going too well.
Reports say Bayern Munich are not ready to pay more than €100 million for a new striker, while and Napoli are still demanding up to €150 million. Osimhen may be too expensive for United as well, but the weeks and months ahead will show how far the Red Devils can go.
A big investment up front is needed for MUFC, and it looks a positive for them that Bayern may no longer be realistic contenders for Osimhen’s signature. Florian Plettenberg reported a few days ago that Chelsea and Manchester United are two clubs mainly linked with the Nigerian this summer, but with Napoli said to be holding out for £150 million for the 24-year old, it remains to be seen whether he truly will be on the move this summer.
However, during Napoli’s title win celebrations at the weekend, Osimhen insisted to DAZN (via The Mirror) that a move this summer is not something that’s on his mind as he revelled in his side’s achievement.
“Future? Now I want to enjoy this historic moment, this is not the time to think about my future. I will forever be grateful to this league, to this competition.
“As I always say, I am learning the role of a striker and with Napoli it was immediately good emotions. I feel I have improved a lot, thanks especially to Luciano Spalletti and his staff, they gave me the confidence to be able to grow and score a lot of goals.”
