New Victor Osimhen 'clause' boosts future Chelsea transfer hopes amid Napoli 'agreement'

Reports from Italy suggest an agreement is now in place for Victor Osimhen to complete a permanent transfer from Napoli to Galatasaray.

If true, any notion of Chelsea reviving a bid to sign the striker they ran out of time to finalise a deal for 12 months ago would be dead in the water. Osimhen is said to have prioritised a return to Istanbul, where he spent last season on loan after missing out on a move to Stamford Bridge, and now the two clubs involved are said to have come to a full accord.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Galatasaray have finally met Napoli's €75m (£67m) demands. They have not done this by paying this figure in full and triggering the Nigerian's release clause.

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Instead the Turkish outfit will pay €40m (£34.6m) upfront then €35m (£30.3m) as a second instalment to be paid by 2026. In the short term, this rules out a potential move to the Premier League, particularly to Chelsea, but a new clause interestingly keeps the door open in the long run.

The report from Italy claims the reason Napoli have been so stringent in their negotiations with Galatasaray is because club president Aurelio De Laurentiis has been fighting for the inclusion of a very specific clause in the transfer agreement. There is the potential for said clause to make life easier for the Blues to strike an agreement themselves with Osimhen's new employers within the next two years.

Gazzetta claim Napoli have enforced an 'anti-Italian clause' upon Galatasaray, meaning they are not allowed to sell their new striker to any of their rivals in Serie A before 2027, at least without incurring a bill on top of what they are paying this summer.

After all, Italy's top clubs have a long history of taking one another's star individuals. There was outrage when Gonzalo Higuain left Naples behind for Juventus and the same when Andrea Pirlo moved between AC Milan and Juve.

Romelu Lukaku has represented three clubs in the country over his career and even Tammy Abraham has played for two since the end of his Chelsea days.

Having made 133 appearances over his time in Italy, scoring 76 and assisting 18, Osimhen may have relished a return to the country down the line.

It is also freshly explained how last summer's saga left 'irreparable damage' between him and Napoli, so it seems no loyalty would stand in the way of joining a direct rival. But now for that prospect will have to wait.

If he were to quickly get bored of Turkey or even outgrow the league by continuing his fine run of form in front of goal and want a return to one of Europe's major leagues, then that is a handful of top clubs knocked off the list of Chelsea's possible competitors over the next two seasons.