Chelsea and Napoli couldn’t reach a final agreement for the transfer of Victor Osimhen last night, forcing the London club’s representatives to return to England following the disagreement.
Chelsea had initially contacted Napoli for a possible loan move with an option to buy the 25-year-old Nigerian, with the London team competing for his signature alongside Saudi Arabian side Al Ahli.
However, yesterday, Al Ahli signed 28-year-old Brentford striker Ivan Toney on a four-year deal, which has hampered Osimhen’s chances of switching allegiance to Al Ahli, even though the Saudi club had agreed on terms with Napoli and scheduled Osimhen’s medical.
It now seems unlikely that the Saudi club can proceed with signing him due to regulations from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, which only allows 10 foreign players per team. Al Ahli already has nine in their 25-man squad.
Although the deal could still be completed in the next three days, if no agreement is reached, Osimhen may have to wait until January to play football actively again, as Napoli has already signed Lukaku and is not expected to keep the African Footballer of the Year for this season.
