Victor Osimhen can hardly be away from the headlines these days after dazzling his way to the Serie A top scorer award with 26 goals which was instrumental in landing Napoli’s first league title in 33 years last season.
The 25-year-old has now become one of the most highly-coveted players in the world and Napoli understand he might not be at the Stadio Armando Diego Maradona in the near future. That explains why he signed a three-year contract in December 2023 with a release clause set at a reported €130 million.
Osimhen has been rumoured to be of interest to clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid. In recent times, the links to Chelsea have made more rounds in the news and it is not hard to see why.
The Blues are currently struggling in the Premier League where they sit in 12th place and are in dire need of a centre forward to lead their frontline as Senegal’s Nicolas Jackson has not shown enough consistency.
Napoli have also been a shadow of the dominant side from last season and currently sit in eighth place, a distant 12 points away from the Champions League qualification places. Despite this drawback, Osimhen has shown his class, netting 11 goals in 18 Serie A games, even as he spent considerable time away on the sidelines with injury.
3 – Victor #Osimhen is only the 3rd player in Napoli’s history to score at least 10 goals in 4 consecutive seasons in Serie A, after Diego Armando Maradona (between 1984/85 and 1987/88) and Attila Sallustro (between 1929/30 and 1932/33). Legendary.#SassuoloNapoli #SerieA pic.twitter.com/NEgXXaDU1t
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) February 28, 2024
This once again justifies why Osimhen is highly sought after but he deserves a much better move than Chelsea if the opportunity arises.
The Stamford Bridge outfit are still trying to find their bearing from the successful years of the Roman Abramovich era and it might take a while before they get back to their best.
It therefore does not bode well for Osimhen to be in an unstable environment at the moment. Napoli are after all in such a situation, so why should his next move be to another similar place?
It is also worth noting that Chelsea have not had great success with forwards having seen top names such as Andriy Shevchenko, Fernando Torres, Radamel Falcao, Gonzalo Higuain, Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku all flatter to deceive after being purchased for big money. The number 9 curse might just follow Osimhen to Stamford Bridge which is not good for his reputation.
Looking at the other clubs Osimhen has been linked with, Manchester United is not going to be favourable either as the club is riddled with problems both on and off the pitch that new part owner Jim Ratcliffe will put in a lot of effort to get rid of.
Real Madrid might also be the wrong move as he would have to compete with Kylian Mbappe who is set to join Los Blancos from PSG. The void left by Mbappe at PSG could give Osimhen a good chance to shine in the French capital, however, the atmosphere at the Parc des Princes often tend to be chaotic as PSG are never far from signing megastars and this could create another unhealthy competition for Osimhen.
Liverpool might not be ideal as the Reds are spoilt for choice in their forward line and Jurgen Klopp’s departure at the end of the season leaves a lot of unknowns in the direction the club will go.
This leaves Arsenal as the only club left and is the perfect fit for Osimhen. One big reason why a move to North London favours the former Lille man is because the club has continued to witness steady progress under Mikel Arteta.
From a side that struggled to consistently make the top four, Arsenal have now become title contenders and have made the Premier League title race become a three-horse race for the first time in more than five years.
18 – Since his debut season in Serie A in 2020/21 campaign, only Harry Kane (24) has scored more headed goals than Victor Osimhen (18) in the big-5 European leagues. Tower.#CagliariNapoli pic.twitter.com/mCzNeDpR3j
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) February 25, 2024
There have been calls for Arsenal to have a centre forward if they want to bring back the glory days and Osimhen can just be that player as he fits Arteta’s playing pattern. Aside from finishing, Osimhen has a high work rate and can drop deep to help his teammates when the need arises to defend.
His hold-up play and off-the-ball abilities also make him difficult to contain.
In short, Osimhen is an upgrade to Gabriel Jesus who is Arsenal’s top centre-forward option but is not considered as an outright player in the position. Not forgetting Osimhen’s aerial prowess from crosses and set pieces.
What is more? Osimhen will have a great support cast of players from Bukayo Saka to Gabriel Martinelli, Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard, all competent in scoring but also in providing assists consistently.
Osimhen is spoilt for choice regarding his next move from Napoli, but he has to make careful consideration if he cares about his shining career continuing to go in the right direction.
