Chelsea and Manchester United could be among the transfer suitors for Napoli striker Victor Osimhen as he faces an uncertain future ahead of January.

That’s according to Ben Jacobs in the latest edition of his exclusive column for the Daily Briefing, with the journalist explaining that Osimhen is yet to sign a new contract with Napoli, while he’s also not enjoying his football this season under the club’s new manager Rudi Garcia.

Osimhen has shown himself to be one of the finest forwards in world football in recent times, so it would certainly be exciting to see the Nigeria international in the Premier League.

Chelsea look in need of goals after a slow start to the season, with youngster Nicolas Jackson yet to really settle in and live up to his full potential.

Man Utd, meanwhile, are also a bit reliant on a young and unproven player in the form of Rasmus Hojlund, so it could make sense for them to revisit the option of signing Osimhen if he does end up leaving.

It seems this won’t be straightforward, though, with Jacobs stating that Napoli would likely ask for crazy money to sell one of their best players in the middle of the season.

“Victor Osimhen faces a slightly uncertain future after falling out with the club following a TikTok video mocking him for a missed penalty. The club failed to apologise despite releasing a statement explaining how it came to be published,” Jacobs wrote.

“Osimhen is in high demand, but Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis will still only entertain a sale for a huge price.

“Napoli argue they ‘paid’ €80m to Lille for Osimhen. I say ‘paid’ because it’s complicated and the total package included a fee, bonuses and a series of player swaps. But whatever the actual total, De Laurentiis is hoping for as close to €150m as he can possibly get if he decides to sell. That may be too ambitious, especially compared to last summer.

“I don’t think it’s by any means guaranteed Osimhen will move mid-season, even with the fallout which Napoli maintain has blown over.

“Napoli do have two concerns, though. The first is Osimhen hasn’t signed a new two-year deal which has been on the table all summer. That means his contract expires in 2025 and thus buyers will be on red alert in 2024.

“The other factor is Osimhen hasn’t really enjoyed his football under Rudi Garcia. Napoli lost 3-1 to Fiorentina before the international break and Osimhen was substituted. This drew a fair bit of criticism from fans and not for the first time.”

He added: “Right now there are plenty of clubs interested in Osimhen, including Chelsea and PSG. Manchester United have also been tracking Osimhen for some time. They had a chance to sign him before his Napoli move but Osimhen was worried about game time back then at Old Trafford. But as with Harry Kane explorations, budget could be an issue for Manchester United.

“A January exit can’t be totally discounted, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s far more of a bidding battle for Osimhen in the summer. This is simply because if De Laurentiis doesn’t want to sell in January then only totally crazy money is going to change that and that will put off a lot, if not all, suitors.”

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