Chelsea boost as Osimhen stance revealed via text after Romano insists transfer ‘absolutely on’

A former Chelsea star has revealed Victor Osimhen’s stance on a move to Stamford Bridge having exchanged text messages with the Nigerian after Fabrizio Romano revealed the transfer is “absolutely on”.

The Blues are currently focused on a swap deal with Atletico Madrid that will see Conor Gallagher finally complete his move to the La Liga side and Joao Felix move in the opposite direction.

Romelu Lukaku’s move to Napoli is also getting close according to Romano, who claims Chelsea are looking to secure his transfer before progressing with talks over Osimhen,

Despite reports claiming the moves could be linked it’s now thought the cases are “separate”, though Romano insists the transfer of Osimhen “remains absolutely on”.

“On Victor Osimhen and Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea see these case in a separate way,” Romano said. “They’re not expected to consider a swap deal. First, they want to sort the future of Romelu Lukaku. That means reaching an agreement with Napoli because they already have an agreement with the player: it’s a three-year contract, the salary’s OK, the conversation is constant.

“The name of Victor Osimhen has been mentioned several times so the interest remains but the big story will not be today, tomorrow or this weekend. It’ll go closer to the end of the window.

“Chelsea want to sort the future of Lukaku and then see what happens with Osimhen. It could be a loan deal closer to the end of the transfer window. We know that the position of the player has always been clear: Osimhen has no intention of going on loan or reducing his salary. So the formula of the deal’s not going to be easy. Osimhen doesn’t want the risk of coming back to Napoli in a year. But Chelsea see him as an opportunity.

“Chelsea are not discussing a swap with Lukaku because they’re not investing that super-big money, so they’re looking for creative ways to do a deal.

“The deal remains absolutely on.”

MORE CHELSEA COVERAGE ON F365
👉 Victor Osimhen can’t fix Chelsea like Romelu Lukaku could have done
👉 Chelsea target £45m Liverpool star still ‘exploring options’ after opening day omission
👉 Chelsea 3-8 Man City: Guardiola’s men dominate combined XI with no Caicedo, Fernandez

In a separate post on social media, Romano claimed that we’re not yet ‘at the hot stages of the Osimhen story’ as although Chelsea have held talks with Napoli they haven’t yet discussed the move with the striker.

But former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, a compatriot of Osimhen, has said the striker “wants to come” to Chelsea and “follow in the footsteps of other Nigerians”.

“There’s interest from both sides,” Obi Mikel said on beIN SPORT . “He wants to come to the club.

“The club, I think, want a proven goalscorer and that’s no disrespect to Nicolas Jackson. Last season he did well but I think we need more.

“We’ve had a few text messages here and there. I’ve told him how good the club is and what a fantastic place it is to improve.

“He’s interested which is encouraging. He wants to come to the club. Chelsea is a massive club and he would like to follow in the footsteps of other Nigerians to play for Chelsea.

“I think it’s 60/40 in favour that Osimhen comes, I think so, he wants to come. I think there should be a straight swap because Napoli want [Romelu] Lukaku.”