Chelsea 'make Victor Osimhen top target with striker open to move'

• Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino wants to add a centre-forward to his squad
• Napoli expected to demand more than £100m for striker Victor Osimhen 
• Exhilarating Cole Palmer is PL’s player of the season so far – It’s All Kicking Off 

Victor Osimhen is set to be Chelsea’s top target, with the Napoli striker said to be open to joining them.

Osimhen fired Napoli to the Serie A title and scored 31 goals in all competitions last season and has continued his good form this campaign.

And the Blues want the Nigeria international, 24, to bolster their forward line after a lukewarm start to the season, according to the Telegraph.

Napoli chairman Aurelio Di Laurentiis is expected to demand more than £100million and that could scupper a January deal.

However, with Christopher Nkunku injured, Nicolas Jackson only just finding his feet, and Armando Broja still learning his craft, Chelsea could spend big to blast their way into the top four race.

Chelsea set to make Victor Osimhen their top target when they enter the market for a striker

Mauricio Pochettino wants to add a centre-forward to his squad, with Osimhen at the top of his list after his three seasons in Serie A.

Napoli will hope to cling onto him until at least the summer and the Evening Standard claims that Chelsea will only finalise their January transfer plans in mid-December.

However, Osimhen is seemingly unsettled and has a souring relationship with the club and the fans.

In September, Osimhen was the subject of two controversial videos posted to the club’s TikTok account.

The first showed the 24-year-old appealing for a penalty, with sped-up audio captioned ‘Gimme penalty please’ before showing him putting the spot-kick wide.

A second video, which has been circulated online and since deleted, compared Osimhen to a ‘coconut’ – widely viewed as a racial slur.

Striker scored 31 goals last season and Napoli are expected to demand over £100m for him

Napoli responded by issuing a statement pleading their innocence but the relationship between player and club appears to have been heavily affected by the incident.

He has also been out with a hamstring injury since mid-October, limiting him to 12 appearances so far.

However, in that time, he has still managed seven goals.

Napoli rolled the dice and sacked Rudi Garci, replacing him with Walter Mazzarri, and it will be intriguing to see how the new coach affects his form and relationship with the club.

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