Serie A: Antonio Conte’s appointment to spur Osimhen’s Chelsea move

Former Tottenham Hotspur manager, Antonio Conte, could be the key factor in facilitating Victor Osimhen’s move to Chelsea, Soccernet.ng reports.

Napoli are currently in the market, searching for a coach to return the club to the top after a disastrous title defence campaign has seen them languish in 9th place on the Serie A table, 41 points behind league leaders – Inter Milan.

As per Tutto Napoli, the negotiations between Napoli President – Aurelien De Laurentiis, and Antonio Conte is 75% done, with the former Chelsea man leading the race to take over the reins at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.

Soccernet.ng earlier reported that Chelsea are keen on securing Osimhen’s services, and have offered Napoli €90 million alongside Lukaku and an unnamed player.

While Napoli are not willing to listen to the offers below the Nigerian’s €130m price tag, Conte’s appointment might make the three-time Scudetto winners adjust their asking price.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Napoli like the idea of Lukaku replacing Osimhen, although their initial targets were LOSC Lille’s Jonathan David and PSV Eindhoven’s Santiago Gimenez.

Chelsea are looking to invest money elsewhere, which is why they’ve offered Lukaku in the deal for Osimhen, considering the striker is familiar with the Serie A, and achieved success with Conte in the 2020/2021 season, winning the Scudetto with Inter Milan.

Conte won the league with Chelsea in 2016 and is seen as an ideal profile to do the same with Napoli, although some of the club’s hierarchy prefer Atalanta’s Gian Piero-Gasperini.