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Arsenal’s pursuit of Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo has given Premier League rivals Chelsea and Man Utd a boost in their search for Napoli forward Victor Osimhen, according to ESPN reporter Jon Molyneux-Carter.
Osimhen has been hugely impressive for Napoli this season, netting 22 goals in 27 Serie A games en route to his side’s first title win since 1990.
His form has not gone unnoticed with a number of top European clubs keen to sign him this summer.
The Nigerian international is expected to cost an absolute fortune, which has all but ruled out German champions Bayern Munich, who are instead expected to go after Eintracht Frankfurt hitman Randal Kolo Muani.
A move to the Premier League seems like the most probable scenario for Osimhen, given the spending power of the top English clubs.
Man Utd and Chelsea are in desperate need of a new number 9 and are both linked with a similar group of players, including Osimhen.
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Arsenal they have surprisingly been linked to the 24-year-old as well.
Mikel Arteta’s side are expected to be chasing a new midfielder this summer, however, with West Ham and England star Declan Rice said to be their top priority.
Rice is expected to cost at least £80m, which will obviously represent a large chunk of the Gunners’ transfer budget, meaning the signing of a full-sized forward is unlikely.
If Arteta were to look to bring in a new striker, it could be someone like Refinewho the Londoners tried to sign last year before he joined Barcelona from Leeds.
And with Arsenal prioritizing reinforcements in midfield, Man Utd and Chelsea have both had an advantage in their bid to bring in Osimhen, according to ESPN.
Writing on their website, journalist Jon Molyneux-Carter said: ‘Arsenal have had a great season and have also been linked with Osimhen but are more likely to bring in a central midfielder.
«The club nearly spent £70m to get Brighton’s Moises Caicedo in January and they could either come back for him, or turn their attention to West Ham’s Declan Rice instead.»
Molyneux-Carter says Chelsea will «almost certainly» be looking to bring in a striker this summer and should be willing to spend «a lot of money» despite a huge outlay on first-team talent over the past year.
Between interest from the Blues, Man Utd, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, Osimhen is expected to cost «more than 130 million euros».
One of Chelsea’s biggest struggles this season has been their inability to get the ball into the back of the net.
Despite spending around £600m on several new players, the club’s recruitment team failed to bring in an outright goalscorer.
In fact, the only natural forward they signed was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was well past his best and barely playing since the start of the year.
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