CHELSEA are on the verge of landing £85million Napoli star Victor Osimhen — in an extraordinary player-swap deal.
Ex-Blues boss Antonio Conte, now in charge at the Italian club, wants £97.5m Stamford Bridge outcast Romelu Lukaku, young £17m midfielder Cesare Casadei PLUS a further £39m to seal the transfer.
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Nigerian hitman Osimhen, 25, wants to quit the Serie A side, while Belgian striker Lukaku, 31, is desperate to end his Chelsea hell after two years out on loan.
The Blues’ billionaire owner Todd Boehly has already splashed out £152m in this transfer window, taking his total player splurge to a staggering £1.114billion since he took charge just two years ago.
Chelsea’s new boss Enzo Maresca is keen on Osimhen after the collapse of Samu Omorodion’s £34.5m move from Atletico Madrid.
Osimhen has been on Chelsea’s wish list for some time. He scored 15 goals in Serie A last season and now wants to test himself in the Prem.
But the swap deal would represent a staggering loss for Chelsea, effectively getting £46m for two players who cost them a combined £114.5m in the last three years.
Lukaku’s £97.5m transfer from Inter Milan in 2021 was just shy of the Prem record.
Napoli and Chelsea have discussed loan swaps but Osimhen is believed to prefer a permanent move to the West Londoners.
He has been linked to French giants Paris Saint-Germain but Blues lead the race to sign him.
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Nicolas Jackson was the main striker last term, with Frenchman Christopher Nkunku back-up at Stamford Bridge.
Armando Broja is back from loan at Fulham but is surplus to requirements.
Germans Borussia Dortmund and Everton have shown interest in him.
Lukaku, 31, lasted one season before falling out with boss Thomas Tuchel and also fans for going public with his discontent in an unauthorised interview on Italian TV.
Belgium’s record scorer has since been farmed out back to Inter and to Roma and wants to stay in Italy.
He has two years left on his £325,000 a week contract at Stamford Bridge.
Italy youth midfielder Casadei, 21, is the other makeweight in the sensational deal. He has barely figured since he signed for Chelsea in 2022.
He was on loan at Leicester for part of last term, working with new Blues boss Maresca.