Conte Remains Tight-Lipped on Chelsea Victor Osimhen Deal

Chelsea’s pursuit of an out-and-out striker continues to burn on with the Blues no closer to acquiring someone to compete with Nicolas Jackson for a starting spot at Stamford Bridge – but Antonio Conte’s tight-lipped remarks on Victor Osimhen could give the club hope as he insists that the striker’s future is in the hands of the board, with 10-12 departures ‘needed’ in his rebuild of Napoli.

Osimhen has been one of Europe’s top strikers for quite some time, notching 25 Serie A strikes in 2022/23 as the Gli Azzurri romped to their first title in over 30 years, and whilst last season wasn’t as good, he still recorded a decent season with 15 strikes in the league. Napoli as a club, however, finished 10th – and with no European football on the cards, Conte has been brought in to steer the ship – where he looked to be cautious over who would go and who would stay.

Conte Remains Tight-Lipped on Osimhen Future

The striker could still move on in the window

Chelsea were linked with Osimhen originally in late July, with a deal potentially taking forgotten star Romelu Lukaku away from Stamford Bridge to Napoli on a permanent deal reportedly seeing Osimhen move to west London on a season-long loan.

The Nigeria star, who missed the opening game of the Serie A season, is not thought to want a move away from the Estadio Diego Armando Maradona without it being permanent, which has scuppered the idea of a move.

But Conte admitted that at least 10 players need to leave in a complete rebuild of the playing squad, before stating that the future of Osimhen will be totally in the hands of the Napoli board. He said, via Football Italia:

Chelsea Need a New Striker

Nicolas Jackson still has doubts over his ability

Jackson wasn’t at the required standard against Manchester City on Sunday and with Chelsea bringing on 18-year-old Marc Guiu in a bid to change the tide against the champions, it’s a sign that they need to add someone else into their ranks otherwise it could be a tough campaign if Jackson doesn’t hit the form he showed towards the end of last season.

Whether Enzo Maresca could opt to play either Christopher Nkunku or rumoured incoming star Joao Felix in a false nine role remains to be seen but without any resurrection to their current situation, the Blues could struggle for goals if Jackson is not firing and Champions League football may be a pipedream from early on in the season despite spending vast amounts of money.

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Statistics courtesy of WhoScored. Correct as of 18-08-24.