Chelsea target Osimhen ‘agreement almost done’ for Saudi transfer as £72m flop nears exit

Napoli are close to accepting an offer from Saudi Pro League club Al Ahli for Chelsea target Victor Osimhen, according to reports.

Osimhen is out of Antonio Conte’s plans in Naples and has been linked with a move away all summer.

Despite his availability and several top clubs chasing a new No. 9, he has been unable to strike an agreement with a European club.

Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain have been linked more than others with the latter looking to fill the void left by Kylian Mbappe.

The Blues, meanwhile, are crying out for an out-and-out striker with 2023 signing Nicolas Jackson still pretty raw.

The Senegalese did score as Chelsea won 6-2 away to Wolves , to be fair, though a new striker should still be a priority for Enzo Maresca.

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Osimhen’s future has been uncertain for a couple of years now and in an attempt to land a transfer this summer he penned a new contract including a reported £112million release clause last December.

No club has shown a desire to trigger that clause and with days left in the summer transfer window, Napoli are growing desperate with the Nigerian out of their plans.

Osimhen to Chelsea in doubt amid Saudi links

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano , Osimhen could be off to Saudi Arabia with PSG and Chelsea yet to make an approach.

Romano says Saudi Arabian outfit Al Ahli have ‘submitted a bid to Napoli’ worth €65m (£55m), which is substantially less than the Italian club’s asking price going into the summer window.

It is claimed that ‘Napoli are prepared to let him go’, however, the 25-year-old does not have an agreement with Al Ahli, with a ‘deal still far on the player side’.

After an initial X post, Romano later added that ‘agreement is almost done’ between Napoli and Al Ahli ‘for package in excess of €65m’.

If Osimhen does move to Saudi Arabia, his contract will include an ‘important salary’ as well as a release clause.

World-record Chelsea signing closes in on Bournemouth transfer

Chelsea could miss out on Osimhen but their top priority before Friday’s deadline is to offload unwanted players – and they have a lot of them.

Trevoh Chalobah, Armando Broja and Djordje Petrovic are among those with no future at the club still at Stamford Bridge.

Another player yet to move on is Kepa Arrizabalaga, though Chelsea are close to offloading him to Premier League rivals Bournemouth.

According to Romano, Kepa is expected to sign a new contract before joining the Cherries on loan.

The Italian transfer journalist wrote on X: ‘Understand Bournemouth are closing in on deal to sign Kepa from Chelsea! Still key details to sort but loan deal until June 2025 (extending his contract at #CFC until 2026) now close after late night talks. If all good later today, Kepa will travel for medical tests.’

Kepa is still the most expensive goalkeeper in history having joined Chelsea from Athletic Bilbao for £72m in 2018.

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