“We cannot stop them” – Napoli’s President hints at possible exit for Osimhen amidst Chelsea links

Victor Osimhen has scored five goals in his last three games for Napoli, hitting form at the right time after a poor AFCON 2023 outing in Ivory Coast.

Chairman of the Napoli board, Aurelien De Laurentiis, has revealed that he doesn’t have the power to stand in the way of his players if they choose to exit the club, Soccernet.ng reports.

The Italian has seen several star players like Gonzalo Higuain, Edinson Cavani, and Min-Jae Kim leave the club during his tenure as chairman and another exit won’t phase the 74-year-old.

Napoli’s marksman, Victor Osimhen has been linked with a move abroad since his staggering goalscoring prowess hit top gear last season, but the club have a £113m release clause in the 25-year-old’s contract.

Chelsea are currently in the market for a traditional striker to solve their goalscoring problems and have identified the Nigerian forward as a solution, but face stiff competition from Arsenal and French Ligue 1 side, Paris Saint-Germain.

De Laurentiis admitted yesterday that he doesn’t wield the power to force players to remain in Naples against their will.

“Some players fell in love with Napoli and stayed, like Marek Hamsik for eleven years, or like others for eight years, and others are attracted by Real Madrid, Paris Saint Germain, Arsenal, Manchester City, and Chelsea. So you cannot stop them, especially when they have a fixed amount of money where they can be bought,” the President said at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London in quotes revealed by The Athletic.

Quizzed about the possible departure of former LOSC Lille striker, Victor Osimhen, De Laurentiis indicated that there’s a chance the Nigerian might leave, but he’s well relaxed knowing a suitable replacement will follow.

“He has a release clause. It’s a huge amount of money. Who knows who will leave, we will see. The money is the last problem for Napoli. We always made very good acquisitions as we did in the past. We will do so in the future,” he added.

Osimhen has scored eleven goals and created three in the Italian Serie A this season, but Napoli are still way off the spots for European places.