Antonio Conte, Napoli head coach, before the Serie A match against Verona at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on January 12, 2025 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)
As we head towards the final days of the January transfer window, it’s been reported that Napoli have turned down a €65m bid for Victor Osimhen.
Back in October Chelsea were targeting Osimhen, but things would appear to have changed significantly for the Blues since then.
Arsenal have been working on a deal for the striker this month, and it’s also believed that Man United have previously shown interest in the 26-year-old Nigerian hit-man.
Victor Osimhen remains a wanted man
The centre-forward’s attraction is obvious, given that he has 162 goal or assist contributions in 243 career games to date (transfermarkt).
However, Napoli are clearly going to play hard ball when it comes to allowing their striker to leave for his market value.
After being forced to drop their asking price of €120m to €75m, there will still no takers so he ended up on loan at Galatasaray.
Galatasaray bid €65m for Victor Osimhen
It’s the Turkish giants who have now apparently made the €65m bid for the striker this month (Corriere dello Sport), however, it has been flatly turned down by the Partnopei.
Unless any of the interested parties are willing to stump up €75m before the end of the transfer window, then Osimhen will play for the remainder of the 24/25 campaign in the Super Lig.
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Come the summer, there’s likely to be a huge scramble for his services with a number of clubs likely to be willing to pay his release clause.
It would then, ultimately, be up to the player as to which club and project he chooses to join, ahead of what’s expected to be the peak years of his career.
With the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules in mind, that could rule out some English top-flight clubs before an auction for Osimhen has even begun.
