Napoli have slapped an exorbitant €180 million price tag on their marquee striker Victor Osimhen amid growing interest from Paris Saint-Germain.
According to Le Parisien, the Partenopei president Aurelio De Laurentiis is asking for a prohibitive asking price to fend off potential buyers and keep the Nigerian in Naples for another season.
Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane remains a dream signing for PSG, but the player’s intention to stay in the Premier League threatens to hinder their hopes of getting the deal over the line.
Kane’s desire, combined with Daniel Levy’s reluctance to let his star forward leave, has shifted PSG’s search elsewhere, bringing Osimhen into the equation.
The 24-year-old topped the scoring charts in Serie A last season with 26 goals from 32 appearances, playing a crucial role in Napoli’s first league title in 33 years.
His outstanding showings for Napoli have made him indispensable, and De Laurentiis intends to keep him in southern Italy beyond the summer at all costs.
But there’s still a price that could make the eccentric film producer reconsider his stance, although it would take more than PSG paid to sign Kylian Mbappe from Monaco in 2017.
If the reigning Ligue 1 champions meet Napoli’s demands, Osimhen would become the second most expensive player in football history, which looks highly improbable at this point.
Luis Campos holds the Nigeria international in high esteem.
However, paying almost three times the figure Napoli forked out to bring Osimhen from Lille in 2020 looks somewhat far-fetched, especially given his proneness to injuries.
PSG found themselves in a similar situation last year as they spent most of the summer of 2021 pursuing a deal for Inter Milan’s Milan Skriniar, only to end up empty-handed.
As they are determined to avoid another long-running saga this summer, it’s more reasonable to expect them to move on to other targets than trying to convince Napoli to sanction the move until late August.
