Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca reveals why they did not push harder to sign Victor Osimhen from Napoli amid reports of an insulting salary offer. ‘It has to be on our conditions.’
The Blues had been in search of a new striker all summer and were expected to make the bid for the Nigeria international much earlier in the day.
Instead, the negotiations only really started in earnest in the final days of the transfer window and a deal could not be done by the deadline on Friday evening.
“We want players but we want players that we decide and then the condition has to be our condition. So if the players are not here, then that means the conditions were not good for us,” said Maresca in a press conference following today’s Premier League 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.
The Chelsea manager was asked if the situation could change in January and perhaps they might revisit the Osimhen situation?
“Yeah, we’ll see now, from here to January. I don’t know how many games we have, but I’ve told you many times I like to focus on the next days. So we will see in January.”
Chelsea offer that irritated Osimhen
Sky Sport Italia, the Corriere dello Sport and more have all reported that the main obstacle for Osimhen in Chelsea’s case was the salary structure.
He currently earns over €10m per season at Napoli, whereas Chelsea were only offering €4m in guaranteed pay, plus €2m in performance-related bonuses and €2m if the team qualified for the Champions League.
That is effectively less than half his current salary guaranteed at Stamford Bridge and he found that unacceptable.
Earlier in the day, Osimhen had accepted a €40m per season contract with Al-Ahli, but the Saudi Pro League side backout out when Napoli requested an extra €5m in bonuses.
They had agreed a fee with Napoli worth €70m plus another €10m in add-ons.
Now the player is stranded at Napoli, who have confirmed via Antonio Conte that he is not going to be welcomed back.