Romano offers hope to Chelsea fans for summer megastar forward

The future of Victor Osimhen has swung in a few directions in the last 6 months, but we are gradually reaching a resolution.

In May he was riding high in Naples, a local hero after winning the league. But this season has been a disappointment all round, with Osimhen not up to his usual levels and the team as a whole struggling.

That made a departure feel more likely, but recent whispers from the peninsula – including from owner Aurelio De Laurentiis, made it sound like the Nigerian was actually very close to signing a new contract and tying his future to Napoli.

Fabrizio Romano has been on Caughtoffside’s “The Debrief” where he’s slightly squashed those rumours.

He pointed out how often De Laurentiis liked to use the media to shape the story, and this could be a perfect example:

“I’m not sure they are that close to signing a new deal. Napoli like to use the media to put some pressure – they are trying with the best proposal of their history, higher than the likes of Cavani or Higuain had in recent years,” Romano said.

“But from what I’m hearing there is no full agreement. It’s not a done deal. I think the opportunity for Osimhen to leave in summer 2024 remains really concrete. I don’t think January is realistic, but there could be a summer move.”

Whatever happens, a January move looks impossible. But as we get closer to the summer, we should start to see things move a little more quickly. Hopefully, Chelsea will still be in a position to compete for him at that point.