The Guardian is reporting that Napoli are open to a swap deal involving Victor Osimhen and Romelu Lukaku.
Lukaku is expected to return to Chelsea’s Cobham training base this week after spending the previous two seasons on loan at Inter Milan and Roma. He will reportedly train with those players who did not travel with the club for their pre-season tour, including defender Trevoh Chalobah, who has been given permission to leave.
Lukaku rejoined Chelsea for a club-record £97.5 million in 2021 and has two years remaining on his contract. Reports suggest he has agreed a three-year deal with Napoli, although Chelsea are said to want around £30 million on top of the swap and are still in negotiations with Napoli, who need to sell Osimhen to fund their own signings in the market.
Paris Saint-Germain were considered the strongest contenders to sign Osimhen, but talks with Napoli have stalled. Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has set Osimhen’s release clause at around €130 million. Osimhen has been training separately from the rest of Luciano Spalletti’s squad and has not featured in pre-season.
Chelsea have long been interested in Osimhen, who helped Napoli end a 33-year wait to be crowned Serie A champions in 2023. Chelsea sources previously stated that they were unwilling to pay his release clause and were looking to negotiate a deal with Napoli that would see Lukaku offset some of the transfer fee. Napoli are reportedly seriously considering the proposal.
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