Napoli confirm Victor Osimhen will leave the club this summer

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has confirmed that Victor Osimhen will leave the club during this summer's transfer window.

The 25-year-old only signed a new contract with the Italian champions last month, but it is understood that there is a release clause of around £112m in the agreement.

Osimhen said earlier this week that he intends to seek pastures new during this summer's transfer window and hinted at a move to the Premier League amid alleged interest from Chelsea and Arsenal.

Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are also believed to be keeping a close eye on the situation, while Manchester United are in the market for an elite centre-forward this summer and have previously been credited with an interest in his services.

De Laurentiis has now revealed that the striker will be on the move this summer, and he is likely to join "Real Madrid, PSG or a top English club".

© Reuters

"This was already known since this summer, our negotiations [over the new contract] were friendly, otherwise it would not have been so long. We knew he would go to Real Madrid, PSG or a top English club," he told reporters.

Osimhen was in excellent form for Napoli during the 2022-23 campaign, scoring 31 goals and registering five assists in 39 appearances in all competitions.

The striker netted 26 times in Serie A to help fire Napoli to the title, but a disappointing title defence has left the team down in ninth position in the table this season.

The reigning champions are some 21 points behind the leaders Juventus, but they are only three points behind fourth-placed Fiorentina in the race for Champions League football.

© Reuters

Osimhen has scored eight goals and registered three assists in 18 appearances for Napoli this season, including seven goals and two assists in 13 Serie A outings.

The attacker made the move to the Blues from Lille in 2020, and he has represented the club on 119 occasions, scoring 67 goals and registering 17 assists in the process.

Osimhen is currently with the Nigeria squad at the Africa Cup of Nations, scoring once to help his country reach the last-16 stage of the competition, where they will take on Cameroon.

Any club seeking to purchase the forward this summer is likely to need to be playing Champions League football next season, which would put both Man United and Chelsea at a disadvantage due to their domestic troubles.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, still view Kylian Mbappe as their main target and would not be able to afford both the PSG attacker and Osimhen in the same transfer window.