Chelsea and Manchester United have been warned they would have to shatter the Premier League transfer record to land £170million Napoli striker Victor Osimhen.
The Italian club’s president, Aurelio De Laurentiis appears to have priced English clubs with a move with an insistence that only PSG - struggling to keep Kylian Mbappe from Real Madrid this summer - are serious contenders.
Both the Blues and United are keen to sign the striker, who finished top of the Serie A golden boot standings as Napoli won the Italian title last season. But De Laurentiis has now poured cold water on the suggestion he could move to a Premier League club.
“The only club that could afford Victor Osimhen is Paris Saint-Germain,” De Laurentiis told Mediaset.
“If Nasser Al Khelaifi [PSG president] wants to send in a bid around £170m, we wait and we see what happens. I personally think that Victor will stay here. He stays if no indecent offers arrive, and if he were to leave, our scouts will find another strong player.
"If PSG come up with a couple of hundred... I still trust him to stay with us. I've already said it. If a more than indecent offer should arrive, we'll deal with it and we'll be able to find other equally strong players like Osimhen. Here is the blue passion that burns in the heart.
"We'll have to see how the market develops. There are many variables and it's superficial to say today we'll fight for the Scudetto like I said the other year. It would be stupid not to do it, not be competitive in Europe."
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Osimhen smashed 26 goals last season to shoot Napoli to the Italian title and claim the coveted capocannoniere crown, the first African player so to do. His performances electrified his club’s Champions League challenge but they failed to go past the quarter-finals after injury kept him out of the semi-finals.
Both United and Chelsea need a new striker this season but they will not pay the £120million Spurs want for Harry Kane who turns 30 later this month and has a year left on his contract.
United are already in talks with Italian club Atalanta to sign 20-year-old rising star Rasmus Hojlund as they seek to increase their firepower. But Chelsea are continuing to offload players to comply with FFP and to accommodate a new marksman.
They have also delayed Romelu Lukaku’s return to pre-season training until next Monday in a bid to agree a deal with Inter Milan who are trying to re-sign him. The Belgian striker had originally been given a date of this Wednesday to return from his summer holidays.
But Lukaku has no intention of returning to England and instead wants to extend his time at Inter. The move to extend his time off sidesteps a conflict with the Belgian and provides all parties with the chance to get a deal done.
Inter are set to make a new offer for Lukaku, of around £35 million, but it would still fall short of Chelsea’s £40 million valuation.
