Chelsea, who have slipped to 14th place without a win except for a win over promoted team Luton Town, are looking at the Napoli killer.
Chelsea has slipped to 14th place, the lowest among the ‘Big 6’, with 1 win, 2 draws, 2 losses, and 5 points (5 goals, 5 conceded) through the 5th round of the 2023-24 English Premier League. Manchester United (6 points) is right above.
In this summer transfer market, they signed Moies Caicedo, Christopher Nkunku, Axel Disasi, Nicholas Jackson, Cole Palmer, and Romeo Rabia. The cost spent on recruiting them alone amounts to 400 million pounds (estimated, approximately 656.6 billion won).
However, the performance is evaluated as poor. Criticism is pouring in that they don’t know what they are thinking. The reaction was that it was possible when the team drew 1-1 in the opening match with Liverpool, but the mood changed suddenly after losing 1-3 to West Ham United.
In the case of West Ham, they were on the verge of relegation last season, but barely managed to survive and won the Europa Conference League (UECL) title, securing a spot in the Europa League (UEL). The removal of key midfielder Declan Rice and the recruitment of James-Ward Prowse were notable.
However, Chelsea only scored one goal despite using Jackson, Sterling, and Chukwuemeka. In the 22nd minute of the second half, West Ham’s Knife Aguerre was sent off for accumulating warnings, so even though they had a numerical superiority, they were far from a goal, and they collapsed after conceding an additional goal through a penalty kick to Lucas Paqueta in extra time. Enzo Fernandez’s missed penalty kick at the end of the first half was a fatal blow.
The game against Luton, played after the Chelsea game, seemed to be going smoothly as they won 3-0 with two goals from Sterling and an additional goal from Jackson, and won the League Cup against AFC Wimbledon, but lost 0-1 at home to Nottingham and lost 0-0 to Bournemouth. After the score was tied at 0, criticism poured in against coach Mauricio Pochettino. It is pointed out that the team is not properly coordinating.바카라
However, coach Pochettino’s position is also understandable. They are struggling due to injuries to starting and substitute players such as Trevor Chalobah, Labia, Nkunku, Badiasile, Wesley Fofana, Chukwuemeka, Armando Borja, Reece James, and Marcus Bettinelli.
In particular, the departure of Nkunku, who scored 16 goals in 25 league games for Leipzig last season in the German Bundesliga alone, due to a knee injury, is heartbreaking.
Regarding this, British internet media ‘Team Talk’ reported on the 18th (Korean time) that ‘Chelsea is considering signing Victor Osimhen (Napoli). Of course, Arsenal are also looking at Osimhen. He said, “There was a conversation before recruiting Gabriel Jesus.”
Osimhen was the key to Napoli’s Serie A victory last season. While Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) was at the center of defense, Osimhen was at the center of attack. He scored 26 goals and led the attack along with Hvicha Kvarachelia (12 goals, Naples).
Naturally, many teams showed interest in recruiting Osimhen. Clubs with some money, including Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, FC Barcelona, and Juventus, showed interest in Osimhen. Even Saudi Arabian giant Al Hilal reportedly proposed a contract worth a total of 200 million euros (about 282.6 billion won) to recruit Osimhen.
Osimhen’s contract with Napoli runs until June 2025. Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis proposed a one-year extension until June 2026 and an increase in the buyout amount to 150 million euros (about 220 billion won) in order to keep Osimhen. His annual salary is around 10 million euros (about 14.7 billion won) after tax.
Napoli’s will is to never let Osimhen go unless there is a so-called ‘super-large contract offer’. In this situation, it is unclear whether Chelsea will be able to make a financial offer at the level Napoli wants. This is especially true because the Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations are intertwined.
The media said, ‘If Chelsea succeeds in recruiting Osimhen, they will achieve the result of securing a spot in the UCL. ‘It doesn’t seem easy at this point,’ he analyzed. In addition, Osimhen has not yet received an offer from Naples to renew his contract, and it would not be strange if Al Hilal’s ‘crazy offer’ was made again.
The explanation is that in order to recruit Osimhen, betting must start at at least 120 million pounds (about 197.1 billion won).