Napoli's Victor Osimhen looks set to be one of several players at the centre of a major summer transfer battle. The 24-year-old has been in scintillating goal scoring form throughtout the 2022/23 season and has played a key role in Napoli sitting top of Serie A and advancing into the Champions League quarter-finals.
From 28 games in domestic and Champions League action, Osimhen has found the back of the net on 25 separate occasions. To further highlight his impeccable goal scoring ability in this campaign, his longest run without a goal is three games and from the start of January until the end of February, the Nigeria international scored 10 goals in eight matches.
Four of those 28 strikes have been scored in European outings, with Osimhen bagging a brace in Napoli's second leg, last-16 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Those displays in front of goal have understandably alerted the interest of Manchester United, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. Osimhen previously played in Ligue 1 for Lille, but his recent comments certainly hint at his desire to one day secure a Premier League move, despite his love of Serie A.
Speaking earlier this month, Osimhen said: "I think playing in one of the top five leagues in the world (Serie A) is an amazing feeling for me. A lot of people worldwide consider the Premier League as the best and the strongest league but now I'm in one of the best leagues in the world, which is the Italian Serie A.
"I'm working so hard to make sure that I achieve my dream of playing in the Premier League someday but, like I said, it's a process and I just want to keep on this momentum and continue to do well."
Likely aware of significant interest arriving for Osimhen, Napoli have slapped a £150million valuation on their star striker, according to Il Mattino.
While Osimhen has contributed significantly to Napoli's fortunes this season, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has also been in tantalising form, hitting 14 goals and 14 assists this season following a successful penalty and composed pass to allow Tanguy Ndombele to score in the recent 4-0 victory over Torino.
The attacking duo have certainly lit the footballing world alight and it's fair to say that Kalidou Koulibaly did the same just a few years ago. Around the time of his peak displays, Napoli could have got £80million in exchange for the Senegalese defender if owner Aurelio De Laurentis had been willing to cash in on the defender sooner.
Instead, Chelsea signed Koulibaly for £33.8million last summer, meaning Napoli lost out on over half of a possible transfer fee. Likely not wanting a repeat of that, the Italian league leaders may feel forced to sell this summer as it is possible Osimhen's stock will never be this high again, especially with two heavyweights in Chelsea and Man United in desperate need of a striker this summer.
Erik ten Hag's side are currently in pole position to sign Osimhen after laying the ground work for a move in January and according to The Independent, Napoli are at least willing to negotiate with United for the player.
Therefore, without actually realising it, Chelsea could have harmed their chances of bringing Osimhen to Stamford Bridge when they signed Koulibaly last summer for a cut-price fee in comparison to what he would have been worth just a few years previously.
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