'One of the leading centre-forwards' - Ex-Watford scout insists Chelsea should have signed Osimhen

Former Watford and Monaco sporting director, Tor-Kristian Karlsen believes Chelsea would have signed Victor Osimhen in the summer transfer window if they had shown more ambition by tabling a 150 million pounds bid for the prolific striker.

In a bid to strengthen the attack, the two-time European champions were linked with the Nigeria national teamer but didn't table any official bid as Aurelio De Laurentiis placed a huge price tag on the Nigeria international.

They eventually opted for Senegalese forward  Nicolas Jackson who had a great end to the season with Villarreal last campaign.

However, the 22-year-old has struggled to hit the ground running, recording more yellow cards than goals for Chelsea since the start of the campaign.

Karlsen believes the Stamford Bridge outfit could have signed Osimhen who would have been more helpful to the attack than their current options.

"Last season's Serie A  top scorer for Napoli is widely regarded as one of the leading centre-forwards in the game, arguably behind only Man City's Erling Haaland and now- Bayern Munich star Harry Kane  in the pecking order of world-class No. 9s," the Norwegian talent spotter wrote on ESPN.

"Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is known for driving a hard bargain, but a fee of £150m would likely have got a transfer done  long before the Italian club upset their star man by making fun of him on social media-- which is small change for a club that have spent so much across the rest of the team, especially on untried teenagers."

"Osimhen, 24, is an excellent finisher (26 Serie A goals last season; five from six games this campaign) and the Nigeria international's movement across the defensive line, speed to stretch the opponents and aerial strength would be of exceptional value to a team that are a lot better at creating chances than converting them."

The Super Eagles forward has scored five goals in the Serie A this term, the same as all Chelsea forwards have in the Premier League in 2023-2024.

With Osimhen previously expressing his likeness for the Premier League, a move to Chelsea could still be possible in the future but the Blues have to see off competition from other clubs.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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