Arsenal appear to have been handed a major new boost in their rumoured transfer pursuit of Napoli superstar Victor Osimhen.
The Gunners have been strongly linked with a big-money summer move for the Nigerian international as Mikel Arteta seeks a splashy new striker addition in order to bolster his attack ahead of another anticipated tilt at the Premier League title next season.
Chelsea are among the other clubs also previously mentioned heavily in connection with Osimhen, who fired Napoli to the Serie A title two seasons ago and is now expected to leave the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in the current transfer window.
That appears to remain the case despite the appointment of Antonio Conte as the Italian giants’ new manager this summer, with the former Chelsea and Tottenham boss admitting that his situation is different to that of many other wanted Napoli players including the likes of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Stanislav Lobotka.
Conte said he was aware of an agreement for Osimhen to move on, with the player having signed a new three-year contract in Naples in December that is said to have included a substantial release clause worth a whopping £113million.
“As far as Osimhen is concerned, just as I knew very well about the situation of Kvara, Di Lorenzo, Anguissa, Lobotka, on whom I had an absolute veto, I know very well about the Osimhen situation,” Conte said on Wednesday during his first official press conference since being named as Napoli’s new head coach on a three-year contract earlier in June.
“I know that there are agreements with the club, it’s a totally different situation, which I’ll witness. Then if you ask me about the player, he’s a top player, but I can’t get into any discussions about Osimhen because these are previous agreements.”
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Osimhen’s replacement at Napoli could well be Romelu Lukaku, whom Chelsea are hoping to offload on a permanent basis for a fee of around £38m this summer after productive loan spells back in Serie A with both Inter Milan and Roma.
The Belgian striker has previously thrived under Conte at Inter, with the latter keen to express his admiration for Lukaku again in front of the media.
“As for Romelu Lukaku, we’re talking about a strong player, as with Osimhen we’re talking about excellent players,” Conte said.
“There’s no comment to make, you just have to admire them when they play and always hope to have them on your side and never against you.”
