Chelsea are set to revive their interest in Victor Osimhen, with the Blues ready to offer Napoli forgotten man Romelu Lukaku in exchange.
Osimhen fired Napoli to the Serie A title last season, winning Italy's golden boot award in the process. But while the Nigerian has continued to bang in the goals, his side have put up a disappointing defence of their title.
They sit ninth in the Serie A table and are an astonishing 39 points adrift of this year's champions Inter Milan. With European football off the table next season, Osimhen appears ready to move on.
He still has two years remaining on his contract, allowing Napoli to charge a high fee for his services. But he is still drawing interest, with Chelsea joining PSG in the race to sign the 25-year-old.
According to Sky Sport Italia, Chelsea have had 'inital contacts' with Napoli over Osimhen's future. The Blues are said to be trying to facilitate a deal costing up to £77m, that would see Lukaku and a young player move to Italy in exchange for Osimhen.
Lukaku is reportedly a target of Napoli's incoming sporting director Giovanni Manna, who previously tried to sign him for Juventus. While negotiations are progressing, 'the will' of both Osimhen and Lukaku will also have to be assessed.
Before pressing on with their transfer plans, Napoli's priority is on selecting a new coach. Stefano Pioli, Vincenzo Italiano, Gian Piero Gasperini and Antonio Conte are all candidates, with the latter thought to be a fan of Lukaku.
Despite that, Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has already admitted that he believes Osimhen will be on the move this summer. He ranked the striker among the club's greatest players and revealed he would not stand in the way of a transfer,
“Victor is another good player that Napoli have. We had (Edinson) Cavani, (Gonzalo) Higuain, (Ezequiel) Lavezzi and we had (Dries) Mertens, we had a lot of people who were fantastic," De Laurentiis said in January.
“And there are others who are attracted by Real Madrid, by Paris Saint-Germain, by Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea. So you cannot stop them, especially when they have a fixed amount of money where they can be bought.
“Osimhen is a very great player — but you know Napoli is a fantastic place. There are certain players who fell in love with Napoli and stayed, like (Marek) Hamsik for 11 years. Or like others for eight years.
“He has a release clause. It’s a very big 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. The problem is just sentimental problems. When you see a player leave, it’s like a son. You are also happy if this son has fantastic success everywhere else.”