This article was originally published on Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing, a subscription service. If you would like to receive Fabrizio Romano’s exclusive articles via email ahead of publication on caughtoffside.com, please sign-up for the service here: thedailybriefing.io
We know Victor Osimhen is close to signing a new contract until 2026, but I don’t think it rules out a summer exit. This new deal is probably just to protect Napoli and give them the opportunity to have more control over the negotiation. The release clause will be there, around €130-140m, and it remains the case that I don’t see him moving in January.
So, overall, the aim of this new contract is to keep Osimhen at Napoli until the end of the season, and then in the summer they will let him go on Napoli’s terms. It could be difficult for Chelsea – we know their project, we know their ideas, they always want to sign young players who fit their ideas, and it’s not easy to find that in the January transfer window.
Internal discussions are ongoing with the board and with Mauricio Pochettino, but from what I’m hearing, there is still no decision made or any advanced negotiation with Osimhen or any other player. Osimhen has always been on their list, but in January it looks impossible, and other options also don’t look easy, so let’s see how their internal discussions go before they decide on a player.
Ivan Toney is another player linked with Chelsea, but also with Arsenal. It’s not an easy deal because Brentford want important money or else they are more than happy to keep the player until the end of the season.
I reported yesterday that Toney would be interested in joining Arsenal. Of course Arsenal are aware of Ivan Toney’s stance. It’s not about him telling Arsenal that he wants to join them, but of course they know the player would like to join.
But there’s still the price tag issue as we said many times. Also, Toney has always very respectful to Brentford so it…
..
