Napoli set to sell?
Despite playing a pivotal role in Napoli winning their first Serie A title 33 years, it seems more and more likely that the Italian giants will look to sell star striker Victor Osimhen in the January transfer window. Although the Nigerian striker has enjoyed a good start to the new season, with six goals and one assist in his first 10 games, the player’s relationship with the club’s hierarchy has seemingly deteriorated to the point that both parties now seem intent on going their separate ways as quickly as possible.
Will Victor Osimhen leave Napoli in January?
With a contract that is set to run until 2025, many would have suspected that Osimhen would have stayed put in Italy for the foreseeable future, but a series of events over the past few months have poked a number of holes in that theory. According to reports in Italy, Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis held talks with the player over a new contract after the summer transfer window came to a close. Such negotiations apparently came to no conclusion, before a bizarre social media post from the club seemingly made fun of the striker by highlighting a recent penalty miss.
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The club refused to apologise for the video, despite complaints and even threats of legal action from Osimhen’s agent. Now, a few weeks after the incident, De Laurentiis has seemingly resigned himself to selling the player in January. “I have never been unhappy towards Osimhen, but there are always two of us in these things,” said the Napoli president in an interview. “I have remained the same, if his mood has changed [over a new deal] I can’t do anything about it. If things change after a handshake, it’s disappointing, we take note of it but then life goes on.” The club have since released a statement playing down suggestions of a “tense situation” between the player and his employers, but still highlighted the fact that Osimhen had agreed to sign a new contract before reportedly changing his mind. Which, unsurprisingly, has done very little to pour cold water on the constant reports of the Nigeria international leaving the club in the January window.
Who could sign Victor Osimhen in January?
To no great surprise, Osimhen has been heavily linked with moves to just about every major club in European football. Last year, the striker was seen as a potential Kylian Mbappé alternative for Real Madrid as well as a potential replacement for the French striker for Paris Saint-Germain. However, now that Mbappé seems set for the Spanish capital and the arrival of Randal Kolo Muani in the French capital, those rumours have quickly run cold. Similarly, Manchester United were reportedly considering a move for the striker in the summer before opting for Rasmus Højlund instead. According to more recent reports since the start of the current season, the leading contenders to sign Osimhen are Premier League trio Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. But who would be better suited to signing the Napoli striker?
What type of striker is Victor Osimhen?
There’s little doubt that when it comes to scoring goals, there are few in European football that can match or even surpass Osimhen’s ability to stick the ball in the back of the net. Last season the Nigerian talent bagged no less than 26 goals in 32 league games, which worked out at 0.81 goals per game. Only two strikers in Erling Haaland and the aforementioned Mbappé averaged more on a weekly basis than the Napoli striker. Which is perhaps why a number of England’s biggest clubs are desperate to sign him.
However, it’s worth bearing in mind what type of striker Osimhen is. Rather than being a deep-lying forward who can create chances for midfield runners or an inside forward that drifts out wide, Osimhen is a penalty-box striker in the truest sense. According to Opta, 100% of the 26 league goals the striker scored last season came inside the box. When we compare that to the top five goalscorers in Europe last season, it shows that Osimhen’s playing style is considerable different from Harry Kane or Mbappé’s (90% of goals scored in the box), but slightly closer to Haaland (97%) and Alexandre Lacazette (96%). In other words, anyone hoping to sign Osimhen in January should be looking for a penalty-box striker rather than any other type of forward.
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As such, Liverpool signing Osimhen would make little or no sense at all since they already have a penalty-box striker in Darwin Núñez. However, while Chelsea have signed a number of forwards in recent windows, neither Nicolas Jackson or Christopher Nkunku fit the same profile as Osimhen and could compliment the towering striker rather well. Similarly, Arsenal’s reported desire to sign a proven No.9 in place of Eddie Nketiah would make them an ideal fit for Osimhen.
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