Chelsea ‘fail in pursuit of signing Napoli striker Victor Osimhen’ despite the Blues ‘making a late offer’ to sign him before the transfer window closed

Chelsea have failed in their pursuit of signing Napoli striker Victor Osimhen despite ‘making a late offer’.  

Mail Sport had reported earlier this week that Al-Ahli had tabled a £55million bid for Osimhen, with the Blues also having upped the ante to land their long-standing target. 

Representatives from the west London side travelled to Naples on Friday but failed to strike a deal with the player. 

According to Sky Sports, Chelsea made a final offer to the Nigerian with just minutes remaining until the deadline, but failed to even get a response. 

Saudi side Al-Ahli looked set to sign Osimhen but they instead turned their attention to Ivan Toney, who looks set to complete his move to the Middle East. 

Osimhen had long-standing target for the Blues, who made ‘a late’ offer to sign him 

It is understood that Osimhen, whose contract is due to expire in 2026 at the Serie A club, was looking to net a weekly salary of around £500,000, an eye-watering figure. 

Interestingly, his agent, Roberto Calenda, posted a statement on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this week, in response to attempts to prise the striker away from Napoli.

Calenda wrote: ‘Osimhen is a Napoli player, with a contract recently renewed with mutual satisfaction.

‘He made history and when there were major offers (also this year) we always accepted the club’s decisions. As I said, he is not a package to be shipped far away to make room for new prophets.

‘Victor was elected African footballer of the year, eighth at the Ballon d’Or, he still has so much to do in Europe. There needs to be respect and balance.’

Nigeria international Osimhen has scored 76 goals in 133 appearances for Napoli.

A move to Saudi Arabia may still be possible given that the transfer window there is open until September 2. 

Meanwhile, Chelsea are set to bolster their forward line with the loan signing of Jadon Sancho from Manchester United. 

Outcast Raheem Sterling looks set to join Arsenal on loan after being deemed to be surplus to requirements last week.