Chelsea have reportedly tabled Romelu Lukaku plus a €90 million offer to Napoli for the services of Super Eagles of Nigeria striker, Victor Osimhen.
This report is coming barely a day after Paris Saint Germain reportedly tabled a €90 million plus €40 million in add-ons offer for Victor Osimhen.
Osimhen currently has a contract with Napoli which will expire in 2026 but the two parties have agreed to part ways if any of his suitors are willing to pay his €120 to €130 million release clause.
Chelsea are said not to be ready to pay that much for Victor Osimhen in the forthcoming summer transfer window and they have decided to permanently offload Lukaku to the club for Osimhen.
Recall that Lukaku has not been able to establish himself at Chelsea since he joined the club from Inter Milan three summers ago. Due to his troubles at Stamford Bridge, he spent the last two seasons on loan at Inter and now at Roma.
There are no signs that he would be able to get a place in Mauricio Pochettino‘s setup at Stamford Bridge in the coming season, hence, Chelsea are determined to use him to bring their primary target, Victor Osimhen to the club.
Sky Sport Italia transfer expert, Gianluca Di Marzio, wrote: “Not just PSG on Victor Osimhen. For the Nigerian striker, the French can soon open negotiations with the Neapolitans, who however have also had initial contacts with Chelsea in the meantime.
“The English are trying to understand the feasibility of an 80/90 million operation with the inclusion of Lukaku plus a young player in the negotiation.
“Lukaku is a target of the next sporting director Giovanni Manna, who already wanted to bring him to Juventus in an exchange with Vlahovic.”
Note that the 25-year-old Nigeria international has scored 14 goals and provided three assists in 22 games in Italian Serie A so far this season. He played the low number of games this season due to fitness issues and his participation in the 2023 AFCON which took place from January 13 to February 11, 2024.