Agent reacts to reports of swap deal involving Osimhen and Chelsea striker 

Italian football agent Roberto Calenda, who handles the affairs of Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, has responded to reports of a swap deal that would see the Nigeria international join Chelsea with Romelu Lukaku heading in the opposite direction.

Osimhen and Lukaku's fate is intertwined as both forwards want to leave their respective clubs in the summer transfer window but the situation is deadlocked.

New Napoli boss Antonio Conte wants to work with his former pupil Lukaku but his arrival at the Parthenopeans depends on the sale of the reigning African Footballer of the Year.

The Athletic's transfer market guru David Ornstein has reported that for the transfer to go through, Lukaku would join Napoli for a fee of 40 million euros and Osimhen heads to Chelsea on loan with an option to buy. 

It has been suggested that Chelsea are aiming to avoid breaching the Financial Fair Play Rules since if they activate Osimhen's 130 million euros clause it would count in its entirety and not divided by the years of his contract.

Calenda has claimed that the proposed swap deal is not taking place and highlighted the key role played by his client in Napoli's title-winning season. 

Writing on X (formerly Twitter), Calenda said: "I’ve read about unfounded imaginary trades involving Victor, shipped around like a package ready for delivery.

"But remember that this “package” is the top scorer of the third scudetto in Naples’ history. Respect and no more fake news!"

Osimhen has not been involved in any of the three games played by Napoli in pre-season and Lukaku was not named in Chelsea's squad for pre-season matches in United States.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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