Victor Osimhen to Chelsea would be the transfer of the window

Chelsea don’t often make sensible signings; when they do, it’s a case of broken clocks. Cole Palmer defied every expectation and other than that – in the Clearlake era – who are we counting as a success? Nicolas Jackson? Malo Gusto? Victor Osimhen would bound past that pair in a single leap.

‘£1 billion spent only to have no striker?!’ has been cried so often that it has lost all meaning. Since Todd Boehly bought Chelsea, they have spent around £1.3bn largely on fodder. The majority of these players are on mammoth contracts with respectable wages so the risk is relatively low but it’s still a whole lot of money for not a lot of success.

Players like Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo will never be bought for close to the £100million-plus Chelsea paid for them, but the logic of both purchases is that they will cost around £15m per year of their contracts. You can eventually convince yourself that the Blues’ transfer philosophy is a sound one.

But with that £1.3bn, they have forgotten to buy themselves an actual striker. It is only the most important position on the pitch; it’s not that deep, folks. So many centre-backs have been bought, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Jackson are the only signings you can argue are out-and-out No.9s ready for Premier League football. David Datro Fofana and Marc Guiu are not the finished product, while Christopher Nkunku and Joao Felix’s best positions remain a mystery.

Luckily for Chelsea, the perfect market opportunity is right there. Now is not the time to show restraint and we don’t think they will. Victor Osimhen to Chelsea feels inevitable and it would be the signing of the summer – and one of very few Blues signings that make perfect sense.

Napoli have shown they are willing to sell their star player for 65 million euros (£55m), halving their previous asking price. They are getting a bit desperate with just days left in the 2024 summer transfer window want to offload Osimhen to Al Ahly in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately for them, the player and his agent are having none of it. Well, unless they got a ridiculously large salary and a release clause ensuring he could depart in six months. Way to stand strong, fellas.

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The Serie A club’s £55m valuation seems too good to be true and the lack of interest from clubs across Europe does ring some alarm bells. Arsenal don’t appear to be interested and Paris Saint-Germain are relaxed – when they really need a new attacker. Is it his character? His agent? His demands?

There is no question about where Osimhen fits in at Stamford Bridge, or if he even starts for them. He walks straight into Enzo Maresca’s starting XI and will be a dream for the creative players around him.

When Romelu Lukaku’s move to Napoli is confirmed we expect Chelsea’s interest in Osimhen to accelerate and if he isn’t a Blue by Saturday morning, we will be pretty surprised, even if this is Chelsea we are talking about. Chelsea doing the right thing in the transfer window is really quite rare.

The Final Piece of the Puzzle that Chelsea have been craving is Right There, and for a very decent price. He is the best striker on the market and signing a No. 9 is something Maresca has confirmed the club will try to do before Friday’s transfer deadline. It feels written in the stars and when it happens, the Blues will become a different proposition.

Despite the complete mess that Chelsea are in, with so many players still to leave, their starting XI will look pretty handy with Osimhen in it. It’s just a shame there is so much to sort beyond Maresca’s best XI; the club still need to offload over 10 first-team players, and some big egos being out of the team this season means it could go horribly wrong again. It is pretty hard to remain consistently positive throughout anything we write about Chelsea.

Regardless, we are being positive. Just as we begrudgingly were in our Winners and Losers column. Credit where credit is due and all that. Should they crash out of the Europa Conference League to Servette, drop points against Crystal Palace this weekend or not sign Osimhen, we will be sure to give them hell. It’s all we know and doing otherwise feels wrong.

Getting Osimhen through the door might rely on outgoings but if Lukaku’s departure is enough to bring him in, Chelsea have to make it happen. It would be the signing of the summer and enough to give fans confidence they can finish in the top four.

And if a deal to sign Osimhen cannot be agreed, Chelsea can just go and get Ivan Toney from Brentford. He is also right there. Winner, winner.

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