SSC Napoli director Mauro Meluso has hinted that the club are keen to sell Victor Osimhen on a permanent basis in the upcoming January transfer window.
The striker was heavily linked with a move to the Premier League throughout the summer window, with Chelsea being incredibly close to finalising a deal to bring the Nigerian striker to Stamford Bridge.
In the end, the Blues were unable to agree personal terms with Osimhen despite making several contract offers to the player. 90min understands that the striker’s representatives didn’t even give a formal response to the final contract terms proposed by Chelsea in the final hours of the window.
Having seen a move to the Premier League fall through, Osimhen would surprisingly end up in Turkiye with Super Lig giants Galatasaray instead – the club agreeing to cover the striker’s €10m salary in full during his time at the club.
A break clause was included in the loan deal which means that Napoli have the option to bring Osimhen back to the club in order to ship him out permanently elsewhere if a suitable offer is tabled.
Speaking at the Palermo Football Conference, club director Meluso admitted that the club will consider taking up the clause in January.
“It was a last-minute solution so he would not lose the first three months of the season,” said Meluso of Osimhen’s loan to Galatasaray. “We will see in January.”
Reports in Italy state that Osimhen could be available for around £68m in January due to his £109m release clause expiring at the end of the summer transfer window.
Meluso also discussed the reasons for Napoli shipping the striker out on loan when they were unable to sell him outright, admitting that the decision was made because Osimhen no longer wanted to be at the club.
“He no longer wanted to be part of the first team,” Meluso continued. “He had received an important offer even before I arrived at Napoli, but Aurelio De Laurentiis didn’t consider it because he thought about the club’s good.
“He may have made wrong decisions but did them to keep Napoli competitive.”
Osimhen has continued to find the net with regularity since moving to Turkiye, netting two goals and also bagging two assists in his first three games in the Super Lig.
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