Gianfranco Zola has given Chelsea the green light to sign Victor Osimhen as Graham Potter looks to bolster his frontline. The 24-year-old striker has been heavily linked with an exit from Napoli for some time now as he continues to impress in the Serie A.
Osimhen, who sees his deal with the Italian giants expire in 2025, has featured 22 times for Luciano Spalletti's side this term, directly contributing towards 22 goals. His impressive displays have guided Napoli 15 points clear of second-placed Inter Milan in the race to win the Scudetto, attracting the interest of Europe's biggest clubs in the meantime.
According to the Mirror, Todd Boehly is prepared to rival Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain for Osimhen's signature in the summer. The report states that Spalletti's side could demand as much as £100million for the Nigeria international.
And, Zola believes that Osimhen is the real deal, labelling him as a 'complete player'. Speaking to Sky Sports, the former Chelsea star said: "Chelsea would have a lot of competition.
"He's a complete player. He's a pest. I don't know what is going to happen. We will see. I think the task in the Premier League would be different to the Italian league."
Osimhen has impressed so much of late that he's been compared to Blues legend Didier Drogba. The west Londoners have struggled to replace the Ivorian since his left, with only Diego Costa and Olivier Giroud coming close to fulfilling the target man role.
As quoted by Goal, Jose Mourinho said: "He is of the same level as Drogba, but Didier didn’t dive. If Victor changes, then OK.
"I’d buy him if I was at a club with a lot of money. However, if he does go to England one day, he needs to change, because in Italy they put up with this sort of behaviour, whereas in the Premier League, they’d come down hard on him."
The Roma boss continued by claiming that Osimhen must stop diving. Mourinho said: "I told him that he scored a wonderful goal and needs to stop diving so much. His goal was fantastic, he did the same thing when we met earlier this season, so he’s a fantastic player. But he mustn’t dive."
Speaking to Sky Sports, Zola responded to the former Chelsea head coach's diving claims. On Osimhen, the Italian said: "Because Didier was too strong to dive! I see a lot of similarities though."
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