Chelsea are making Victor Osimhen their top striker target for summer 2024 and are set to continue talks with the Napoli forward’s entourage in the coming weeks, CaughtOffside understands.
Although the Nigeria international is fully focused on Napoli for now and a January move never looked likely for him, the situation is expected to change in the summer, and Chelsea have been putting in the leg work to ensure they can be at the front of the queue for his signature.
The Blues have other strikers in mind as they look to strengthen what has been a problem for Mauricio Pochettino’s side this season – a reliable goal-scorer to lead the line and help put away the high quality chances the rest of the team are creating.
Sources with a close understanding of the situation at Stamford Bridge have informed CaughtOffside that Pochettino has been pushing for more experience in his squad after relying so heavily on young and inconsistent forwards like Nicolas Jackson and Armando Broja, and there will be intensive efforts to convince Osimhen to join.
For the time being, Chelsea have not had any direct contact with Napoli, but that is expected to come later in the year if personal terms don’t prove an issue. A protracted negotiation with the Serie A giants is also not anticipated due to the player’s €130million release clause.
If Chelsea cannot secure the signing of the prolific 25-year-old, they have other alternatives they could look to, such as Dusan Vlahovic, Victor Boniface, Viktor Gyokeres, and Evan Ferguson, CaughtOffside understands.
Nothing concrete has yet taken place with those players as Chelsea have made Osimhen a clear priority, but Vlahovic has been proposed to the west Londoners by intermediaries, while there are key figures at the club who are also well informed on Gyokeres, Boniface and Ferguson.
Osimhen is known to have had a huge proposal on the table from Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal last summer, though it is now looking unlikely that he would take up the option to move there if the opportunity were to come up again this year.