Victor Osimhen is not for sale - Napoli President warns Man U, Chelsea

By Amaechi Agbo

Napoli president, Aurelio de Laurentiis has warned Victor Osimhen’s suitors that the striker is “not for sale”.

Mr de Laurentiis stated this on Wednesday following growing reports that English Premier League sides Manchester United and Chelsea are set to bid for the 24 years old with Red Devils ready to splash £107 million on the Serie A leading goal scorer.

He added that neither his prime asset, Osimhen or any other players in the team is for said.

The forward is currently the top scorer in the Italian top-flight with 16 goals from 17 appearances.

Osimhen’s contract with Napoli will last till June 2025.

Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis insists Victor Osimhen is not up for sale as the Partenopei ‘don’t have debts’ and warns his players not to commit the same error as Barcelona in their Champions League clash with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Osimhen is Serie A’s highest goal scorer this season, with 16 goals in 17 appearances, including two in the last round against Spezia.

The Nigeria international has been linked with a move to Chelsea or Manchester United in the summer, but De Laurentiis warns that he does not want to part ways with his star striker.

“Victor is not up for sale, our players are in high demand, but we are forced to sell nobody, we don’t have debts,” ADL told the German paper Bild.

De Laurentiis appeared to taut Napoli’s rivals Juventus as the Bianconeri confirmed a loss of over €250m for 202122 and have been docked 15 points for financial irregularities.

Napoli have only lost two games across all competitions this season, but are firmly on top of the Serie A table with a 13-point lead over second-placed Inter and won their Champions League group in December ahead of Liverpool.

They will meet Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt in the Round of 16, with the first match played in Germany on February 21.

“In the beginning, the feeling was of a non-difficult draw, but it’s not exactly like this,” noted De Laurentiis.

“It’s not a coincidence that they are in the race for the Bundesliga title. We should not think that we are a better team. Barcelona did it last season and we should not make the same mistake.”

The La Liga giants were knocked out of Europa League at the hands of Eintracht last season with the German side eventually lifting the trophy.

Osimhen only moved to Naples twoand-a-years-ago from Lille in a deal worth around £72million but he could be on the move again this time to the Premier League with Chelsea and United eyeing him as their main attacking target for the summer.

Manchester United tried to get ahead of the pack, which includes Chelsea, by enquiring over a move for Victor Osimhen in January. Their report hints that the Red Devils were trying to get ‘in pole position’ for the summer instead of pushing for the deal to be completed in the winter window.

Napoli weren’t interested in entering talks this early though, despite United initiating contact and putting the effort in, preferring to leave things for June.

Chelsea and Man United could be set for a big summer of major signings being made with both clubs ‘ready’ to invest €120million (£106million) to sign Osimhen.