The genius Chelsea swap deal that could see Blues finally land Enzo Maresca striker dream
This summer, the Blues are searching for a new center forward.
Alright, let’s be upfront. The transfer window is going to be operating on a back burner in many people’s affections and attentions for the next week or so as England continues their drive to bore the rest of Europe into submission.
That’s just the way it is. That being said, there are still a lot of underhanded dealings, bold offers, and foolish plans occurring behind the scenes.
Schemes like the one that Chelsea are cooking up to bring Victor Osimhen to Stamford Bridge this summer. In many respects, the Nigerian striker is the white whale of this window, the man who everybody wants but who will elude the grasp of all but one. Part of the reason that he is so slippery is that his current employers, Napoli, are insisting upon an asking price of £84.6 million.
While there are an abundance of sides who are in the market for a new centre forward, very few can realistically afford to pay that much, even for a player of Osimhen’s quality.
That is the situation that Chelsea find themselves in, but thankfully, their number-crunchers believe that they have stumbled upon a way of lowering Napoli’s fee considerably. According to TEAMtalk, the Blues will offer up a couple of their own surplus talents as sweeteners in any prospective deal for Osimhen.
One is likely to be Romelu Lukaku, who is very much on his way out of West London, and who is understood to have emerged as a target for the Italian outfit as they seek a suitable replacement for their own departing talisman.
At the present moment in time, it is understood that Chelsea and Napoli disagree on the Belgian’s exact evaluation by about £8.5 million or so, but regardless, it feels increasingly probable that he will be used as a makeweight of some description or other.
But Lukaku is not the only player on the table. Alongside the 31-year-old, fellow striker Armando Broja is mentioned, as are centre-back Trevoh Chalobah and Cesare Casadei. In the case of Broja, it is suggested that Napoli are not overly keen, while they are said to be in talks with other defenders besides Chalobah.
Casadei is, however, of interest. TEAMtalk claim that Napoli like the Italian a lot and consider him as a possible successor to Piotr Zielinski, who has just completed a free transfer to Inter Milan.
Chelsea supposedly value the 21-year-old at around £16.9 million. Assuming Napoli agree with that price tag, and assuming Lukaku were to wipe out another notable chunk of Osimhen’s aforementioned £84.6 million fee, the Blues could go a long way towards securing a much more reasonable agreement for the 25-year-old.
To that end, this could be a transfer that works out perfectly for the Blues; they finally sign the world class striker they are so clearly crying out for, while also offloading a talent or two that they have evidently decided do not have a future at Stamford Bridge. Now it just remains to be seen whether Napoli take the bait or not.