Chelsea considering cash-swap to land Victor Osimhen
It has been tough to watch Chelsea this season for a variety of reasons. One of the major concerns for any Blues fan right now has to be the lack of a fully-fledged elite striker in the squad.
With that in mind, the club are reportedly considering a unique approach to secure one of their key targets this summer. The club may offer a player in exchange to bring down the price tag of 25-year-old centre-forward Victor Osimhen. The Nigeria international is said to be top of Todd Boehly’s list but Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is notorious for his hardball negotiation tactics.
While Chelsea has the financial capacity on paper, the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSRs) could make executing an expensive deal challenging.
A top-quality striker is glaringly absent from an otherwise promising young squad, but breaking the bank to bring in someone like Osimhen may be impossible for Chelsea’s accountants to swing.
It is believed by many that the Premier League giants could look to bring down the cost of Osimhen by offering up a player of their own in a cash-swap deal with the Serie A side. Not only would this theoretically reduce the cost of acquiring Osimhen, but also go some way to reducing Chelsea’s hefty wage bill, another positive for PSR.
Nicolas Jackson is currently the only recognised centre-forward in the Chelsea squad and his performance has been inconsistent this season. Despite scoring 12 goals in the current campaign, he has missed many chances – something he himself has acknowledged.
Napoli striker Victor Osimhen could potentially complement Jackson’s efforts up top, or he could replace him outright with Jackson deployed as a backup who could learn from the Nigerian international.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Chelsea might be ready to offer Napoli one of their own players as part of an exchange deal aimed at reducing Osimhen’s price tag, but not Jackson.
Rather, Armando Broja emerges as a logical candidate for inclusion in any potential player-plus-cash deal for Osimhen from Chelsea’s end. The Albania international striker is currently out on loan at fellow West London Premier League club Fulham and does not seem to fit into Chelsea’s long-term plans.
If included in such a deal, Broja could potentially knock around £20m off of Osimhen’s price tag. Considering there may be no future for the Chelsea academy graduate at Stamford Bridge, this strategy could prove beneficial for the club.
While these reports remain unconfirmed at this time, there is significant noise in several media outlets and on social media regarding the potential of such a dynamic move.
One thing is for sure, Chelsea need to acquire a legit striker in the summer if they want to improve on what has been a lacklustre first season under Mauricio Pochettino.
