Former Nigeria’s captain, John Obi Mikel, has said that he was trying to get Napoli FC striker, Victor Osimhen, to join Chelsea.
The former Chelsea star claimed he was doing everything he can to push Osimhen towards Stamford Bridge, and said that the Napoli striker wanted to make the move, even though reports suggest he would cost as much as €130 million (£110m/$140m).
However, he admitted that there was plenty of rival interest from Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain.
“I think there’s genuine interest between both (Chelsea and Osimhen). I think he loves the club, he wants to come to the club, obviously he wants to follow in my footsteps as a Nigerian player who has played for Chelsea, like Victor Moses, Celestine Babayaro, there’s not a lot of us. London as well, a fantastic city, instead of going to Liverpool or places like that, you want to live in London. But he also has a lot of interest, like PSG, Man United, but I’m still pushing, sending him messages, trying to make sure he doesn’t expect too much, just narrow your mind on one club: The Blues,” Mikel said at the Web Summit Qatar.
Asked if he was acting as “agent Mikel”, he replied: “I am. I am pushing him. I hope he comes to the club, because he will bring so much to the club. I think the one thing we lack, anybody who watched the [Carabao Cup] final on Sunday will see the one thing we are lacking is scoring goals. We need that striker who will score goals. That’s what Victor will give you. He’s not the most skilful guy but goals, definitely a guarantee.”
Osimhen has scored 11 goals in 15 Serie A games this season and has a proven track record of hitting the back of the net in 122 appearances for Napoli, he has scored 72 goals for the club. Chelsea have seen their striker struggle to find the net with regularity this season, with only two players in double figures for the campaign: Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson.