Victor Osimhen to Chelsea – the enormous deal that never happened. However, it could still happen.
The 25-year-old striker has joined Galatasaray on a season-long loan deal but it is understood there is a break clause that becomes active during the January transfer window inserted into the contract. Osimhen was Chelsea’s number one target – in regards to a striker – all summer-long but football.london understands they could not convince the Nigeria international to lower his salary demands to fit the club’s strict wage structure.
Osimhen’s relationship with Napoli became unsalvageable during the latter stages of the summer window and he ended up moving to Turkey for the season. There is an overriding feeling that the Nigerian still has larger aspirations, however, and that would make sense given the break clause in his contract.
There is every opportunity Chelsea make a move for Osimhen when the summer transfer window opens next year. There are, however, several things to consider from the Blues’ perspective before rushing into a deal for the talented African centre-forward.
Jackson pathway
Nicolas Jackson has started this season well for Chelsea – scoring in two of the opening three matches of the Premier League campaign. Despite missing two golden opportunities in the late stages of the draw with Crystal Palace, where he opened the scoring in the first-half, you would consider it a strong start for the Senegal international.
Last term, in his debut season in England, the 23-year-old striker netted 17 times in all competitions for the Blues. football.london understands Chelsea are extremely pleased with Jackson and his progress since signing for the club for £30million in 2023 and are close to agreeing a new contract with the striker.
Signing someone like Osimhen, though, will undoubtedly block Jackson’s pathway with the team. While he has a tendency to miss some big chances for Chelsea, Jackson can argue that 19 goals 48 appearances in total for the club is very good going – and perhaps they do not need to spend huge on signing someone else.
Felix plan
Joao Felix was brought back to the club last month; this time on a permanent basis. After spending the second half of the 2022/23 season on loan with the Blues, the Portugal international has now signed for the club on a permanent basis from Atletico Madrid.
Felix, who has made two appearances for Chelsea since returning to Stamford Bridge, can be used in a variety of different positions across the front-line. football.london understands Enzo Maresca likes his attacking players to be extremely versatile and the club’s transfer policy in the summer vindicates that.
We do not yet know where Maresca sees Felix in the long-term for Chelsea, or whether or not he will use him in multiple positions on a game-by-game basis. Either way, Felix can be used as the No.9, along with the likes of Christopher Nkunku and Cole Palmer.
If Felix can shine in this position, then Chelsea may well be tempted to save the money on Osimhen and stick with what they already have at their disposal. Because they do have a ridiculous amount of talented attackers ready to go.
The final thing to consider is the wage structure. The club were very strict in the summer about not going over the limit they set themselves internally. We saw Chelsea choose not to pursue a deal to sign Michael Olise from Crystal Palace for that exact reason.
Chelsea did end up backing out of the Osimhen negotiations after hours and hours of trying to reach an agreement on deadline day. And if Osimhen is not willing to alter his wage demands to align with what Chelsea want, then the Blues should either look elsewhere or stick with what they already have.
It frustrated supporters, understandably, because it does not matter which team you follow, you want to see the best players playing football for your club. But ultimately, football is a business in this day and age, and if those higher-ups at Chelsea believed it was not financially feasible to sign Osimhen, then they made the correct choice by sticking to their guns.
