Earlier this week it was reported that Chelsea will no longer be pursuing Victor Osimhen as their primary striker target. The report came from Caught Offside and there were no reasons given other than the standard “Chelsea prefer a younger target” given the club’s new transfer philosophy.
In direct contradiction to that, or at least in opposition to that notion, fomer Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel spoke about Osimhen on his podcast and urged the club to go out and “get him in”. Mikel was very impassioned in his delivery and he was almost begging Chelsea to bring in his fellow Nigerian.
"Listen, it will be really sad if we don’t get a player who supported us a kid and wants to play for this Football Club. His idol is Drogba, he will want to break records, win us trophies, get us back to the top, come for Drogba’s records. I’m telling you that would be his mission."
"If the club chose not to pursue it…then well fair enough, good luck to them, but the good thing about it is we know where we left it, we can literally pick the phone up and get him straight in the door. "John Obi Mikel on Osimhen
Osimhen is 26 so he is a bit older than the players Chelsea have gone for in recent years but he is still young enough where a 7-year contract would take him to his 33rd birthday. That is not excessively old for a player who does not rely exclusively on his pace to score goals.
Scoring goals in multiple ways is what Osimhen does best and he has been prolific in four leagues now with stints in Belgium, France, Italy, and now Turkey. He scored 20 goals in 36 appearances in Belgium in 2018, 18 in 38 in France with Lille, 62 in 103 for Napoli, and now has 28 in 32 with Galatasaray.
He has scored regularly at every level and every stop in his career and has a great record with Nigeria as well with 26 goals in 25 appearances for the Super Eagles. He has all of the physical traits you look for in a top-flight striker and plays the game with an incredible mentality as well.
Osimhen being a Chelsea supporter growing up makes him all the more attractive as a target because the club needs players who will give 100% for the badge. There are a few players at Chelsea now, and we won’t name them, who are being shamed for their effort and we now that won’t be an issue for Osimhen.
The only issue is his wages which are reportedly in the £200k range which would put him at the top of the Chelsea wage table alongside Reece James, Wesley Fofana, and Christopher Nkunku. If Chelsea are willing to pay struggling players that much then why not shell out that cash for a proven goalscorer like Osimhen.
Chelsea have a difficult choice to make at striker but there is a clearcut difference between Osimhen and some of the other rumored targets. If the Blues want to compete for trophies once again and push for a Premier League title, they need a proven goalscorer and they have one in Osimhen who would give his all for the club.