With the arrival of new coach Antonio Conte, Napoli is experiencing an exciting 2024 Summer transfer period with many notable changes.
After strengthening the defense with 3 new contracts: 2 midfielders Alessandro Buongiorno (35 million euros, from Torino), Rafa Marin (12 million euros, Real) and left back Leonardo Spinazzola (free transfer), now Here they are focusing on changing the attack. The hot spot in this plan is the sale of Victor Osimhen, their top striker, to buy Romelu Lukaku, one of the regular scorers in Serie A.
Osimhen: Waiting for a call from PSG
Victor Osimhen, a Nigerian international, had an excellent 2022/23 season to help Napoli win the Scudetto after 33 years of waiting. That season, he also became Serie A’s top scorer, something that even the legendary Diego Maradona could not achieve during his illustrious career at Napoli. However, Osimhen’s cycle at Napoli appears to have come to an end. The team could not keep him without a place in the European Cup next season, and so they decided to sell him to reinvest in the squad.
Currently, PSG is the only team really interested in recruiting Osimhen. President Al-Khelaifi’s team is ready to make an offer of up to 100 million euros to get the signature of the Nigerian striker. However, Napoli has set a contract breaking price of 130 million euros for Osimhen, and this is a number that not many teams can meet. An agreement where PSG does not completely use cash but adds other players (like Kolo Muani) to reduce the financial burden is a solution the French team offers.
Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis is eager to close this deal as soon as possible. He does not want to prolong the negotiation process and hopes to close the deal before the team moves to its new home, Castel di Sangro, to continue preparing for the new season. To achieve this goal, Napoli needs to quickly resolve Osimhen’s situation and close a reasonable price with PSG.
Lukaku: Is 25 million euros enough?
Once the Osimhen deal is completed, Napoli will focus on recruiting Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea. Lukaku has affirmed that Napoli is the only destination he wants, mainly because of his special relationship with coach Antonio Conte. Conte helped Lukaku develop strongly at Inter Milan, and the Belgian player is eager to reunite with his old teacher to continue conquering new heights together.
Chelsea, although wanting to collect the 44 million euro contract break from selling Lukaku, knows that to end the difficult period with this player, they will have to accept a lower price. The common point between the two clubs may be a price of about 25 million euros, a reasonable number in the current context. Lukaku is also ready to reduce his salary of 7.5 million euros/current season to join Napoli, a move that shows his determination to move to a new team.
Another important factor in this deal is Italy’s Growth Law, which helps football teams save on salary costs. This further increases the possibility that Napoli can successfully recruit Lukaku without facing too many financial difficulties.
Napoli has all the favorable conditions to carry out these transfer deals. President De Laurentiis is waiting for new news from PSG while Sports Director Manna continuously re-establishes contact with partners to speed up the negotiation process. On the other hand, Lukaku’s lawyer Ledure is working tirelessly with Chelsea to find the best solution for all parties.
