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By Ebenezer Bajela.
Despite constant reminders from Napoli president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, that Nigeria international Victor Osimhen is not for sale, a host of top European clubs continue to monitor the striker with La Liga giants Atletico Madrid and English Premier League club, Chelsea, the latest to watch the Nigerian, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The 24-year-old was in action against Sassuolo on Friday and he grabbed yet another goal to take his season league goal tally to 18.
Since joining Napoli in the summer of 2020, Osimhen has grown to be a key figure at the Diego Maradona Stadium and is one of the reasons the Parthenopeans are on course to win their first league title in over three decades.
The forward scored his 100th career goal in Napoli’s 2-0 win on Friday and currently leads the top scorer charts in the Italian topflight league.
One of the most sought after forward in Europe, Osimhen has been on the radars of several clubs with Manchester United believed to be leading the race for the former Lille man.
In a new development, according to Italian publication, IL Maltino, both Atletico Madrid and Chelsea had their scouts in attendance at the Stadio Mapei – Citta del Tricolore to watch the in-form striker.
“Osimhen has scored for seven consecutive games, first of all, the Azzurri strikers, like not even Gonzalo Higuain and marches at a rate of more than one goal average in the last 14 games (he has scored 16 times).
“Translated, he could touch the primacy of Pipita, on the throne of goal with 36 goals in a single season. The numbers, the records, but also the people. Therefore, it is not surprising that the other night at Mapei there were quite a few intermediaries ready to take notes in the Chelsea and Atletico Madrid.
“All eyes are on the Nigerian, there is little they (Napoli) can do: in the summer there will be an auction to grab him.”
Meanwhile, Napoli confirmed that the Nigerian trained on Sunday and would be available for their UEFA Champions League clash against Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday.
“The Azzurri are preparing for the match against Eintracht Frankfurt scheduled for Tuesday at the Deutsche Bank Park for the first leg of the last eighth-finals of the Champions League. The team trained on field 3 and started the session with activation and bull. Subsequently, the group played a small match on a small field. Closing with tactical technical work. Osimhen spent the entire session with the team. Tomorrow morning training and then departure for Frankfurt.” says the club’s website’s statement.