Chelsea closing in on £85m superstar for their biggest transfer of the summer: report

It's been yet another extraordinarily active summer transfer window for Chelsea. The Blues are well into double figures for new additions, and there's still the best part of three weeks to go until deadline day.

Pedro Neto is the latest arrival at Stamford Bridge, the Portugal forward completing a £54m move from Wolves on Sunday. But the two-time European champions' spending seems unlikely to stop there.

As new boss Enzo Maresca puts the finishing touches on his squad, Chelsea appear to be closing in on by far their most significant signing of the off-season. They've already splashed out more than £243m, and this star alone would likely take that outlay over £300m.

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Chelsea have been linked with prolific Napoli striker Victor Osimhen for some time. Now, though, they have taken 'important steps forward' in their pursuit of the 25-year-old Nigerian – who has 21 goals in 35 caps for his country.

That is according to TEAMtalk , who report that the Blues are willing to include Romelu Lukaku – who has spent the past two campaigns on loan in Serie A, at Inter then Roma – plus one other player as part of the deal. Kepa Arrizabalaga – who spent last season on loan at Real Madrid and seems certain to leave Stamford Bridge on a permanent basis this summer – and Trevoh Chalobah are said to be among the options.

Osimhen, whose Serie A-high 26 goals in 32 appearances in 2022/23 fired Napoli to the Scudetto, is currently valued at roughly £85.5m by Transfermarkt . He joined I Partenopei from Lille for €80m in July 2020, becoming the most expensive African player of all time (a record later broken by Nicolas Pepe's move to Arsenal from the same club).

Would Osimhen solve Chelsea's longstanding need for a new number nine? As one of the most formidable centre-forwards in European football in recent years, he ought to – but he's bound to take some prising away from Italy.

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