Jose Mourinho has told Victor Osimhen what he must start doing in order to secure a dream move to the Premier League. The 24-year-old striker has been heavily linked with an exit from Napoli for some time now as he continues to impress in the Serie A.
Osimhen, who sees his deal with the Italian giants expire in 2025, has featured 20 times for Luciano Spalletti's side this season, directly contributing towards 19 goals. His stunning displays have guided Napoli 13 points clear of second-placed Inter Milan and Roma in the race to win the Scudetto, courting the interest of Chelsea in doing so.
According to the Mirror, Todd Boehly is prepared to rival Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain for the talisman in the summer. The report states that Spalletti's side could demand as much as £100million for Osimhen.
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Chelsea have struggled to replace Didier Drogba at Stamford Bridge, with only Diego Costa and Olivier Giroud coming close to fulfilling the all-encompassing target man role. The Blues have experimented in recent times with Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and, more recently, Pierre-Emerick Aubamyeang, but none have enjoyed much success.
So, Osimhen has been identified to fill Drogba's shoes at Chelsea. But, in order for the Napoli star to complete his dream move to the Premier League, Mourinho has given him a piece of advice.
As quoted by Goal, the former Blues boss said: "He is of the same level as Drogba, but Didier didn’t dive. If Victor changes, then OK.
"I’d buy him if I was at a club with a lot of money. However, if he does go to England one day, he needs to change, because in Italy they put up with this sort of behaviour, whereas in the Premier League, they’d come down hard on him."
Mourinho continued by revealing what he said to Osimhen when they crossed paths in Naples. He said: "I told him that he scored a wonderful goal and needs to stop diving so much. His goal was fantastic, he did the same thing when we met earlier this season, so he’s a fantastic player. But he mustn’t dive."
Italian journalist Paolo Bargiggia has revealed that the Nigeria international was close to joining Arsenal before completing a move to Napoli instead. Osimhen himself has even previously claimed that the Gunners had enquired for him as a youngster.
Speaking to The Independent back in 2020, Osimhen said: "I spoke with Arsene Wenger after the tournament (Under-17 World Cup) ended and he wanted me to come to Arsenal.
"I had a lot of options. Barcelona; Inter Milan; Atletico Madrid; Juventus and the rest. Arsenal was a good option but it wasn’t the best at the time. I wanted to start playing as soon as I turned 18."
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