Victor Osimhen has a release clause in his contract with Napoli and could leave the Italian champions for a “very big” fee this summer, club president Aurelio De Laurentiis has admitted.
Osimhen has been strongly linked with a move despite signing a one-year contract extension with Napoli in December, with the Partenopei currently unlikely to be playing Champions League football next term.
The Scudetto holders sit ninth in Serie A, eight points adrift of fourth-placed Bologna, and are onto their third head coach of the campaign after replacing Walter Mazzarri with Francesco Calzona.
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Premier League clubs Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal have been linked with Osimhen, while Paris Saint-Germain could also be in contention with Kylian Mbappe set to join Real Madrid.
Speaking to Sky Sports at the Financial Times’ Business of Football Summit in London, De Laurentiis confirmed he is powerless to stop Osimhen leaving this summer.
“Victor is another good player that Napoli have. We had [Edinson] Cavani, [Gonzalo] Higuain, [Ezequiel] Lavezzi and we had [Dries] Mertens, we had a lot of people who were fantastic,” he said.
“There are others who were attracted by Real Madrid, by Paris Saint-Germain, by Arsenal, Manchester City or Chelsea.
“So you cannot stop them, especially when they have a fixed amount of money for which they can be bought.
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“Osimhen is a very great player, and you know Napoli is a fantastic place. There are certain players who fell in love with Napoli and stayed, like [Marek] Hamsik for 11 years.
“He has a release clause. It’s a very big amount of money. Who knows who will leave? We will see.”
Reports suggest Osimhen’s release clause is around €130million (£113m), and while De Laurentiis does not want to see the Nigerian depart, he is confident in Napoli’s ability to replace him.
“Money is the last problem for Napoli. We always made very good acquisitions. As we did in the past, we will do in the future,” he said.
“The problem is just sentimental problems. When you see a player leave, it’s like a son. You are also happy if this son has fantastic success everywhere else.”
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