Chelsea still in talks to sign Serie A star

Chelsea’s pre-season campaign went from bad to worse on Saturday as they were beaten 4-2 by Premier League champions Manchester City. 

Enzo Maresca’s side have lost two and drawn one of their four friendlies so far this summer, and they were outclassed by City on Saturday.

Erling Haaland scored twice in the first five minutes of the match – on both occasion capitalising on defensive errors – before his Norway teammate Oscar Bobb added a third.

Haaland then completed his hat-trick to put City 4-0 up, before Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke pulled goals back for the Blues.

Chelsea have already made a number of new signings so far this summer, but it has now emerged that the West London side are still in talks to complete a huge deal.

As per Football Insider, the Blues remain in talks with Italian side Napoli as they look to sign striker Victor Osimhen.

It is claimed that both Chelsea and French side Paris Saint-Germain are still interested in the Nigeria international, who has a £93.5 million release clause in his current contract.

Despite this, the report claims that both Chelsea and PSG are currently unwilling to activate the player’s release clause, and the two clubs are therefore trying to negotiate a different deal.

Osimhen, 25, joined Napoli from French club Lille four years ago, and has since scored 76 goals in 133 games for the club across all competitions.

His current contract doesn’t expire until the end of the 2025/26 campaign, but he is expected to leave Naples before the current transfer window shuts later this month.

Chelsea are also said to be working to agree a player-plus-cash deal for Osimhen, which would involve Romelu Lukaku joining the Italian side.