Victor Osimhen to Chelsea transfer round-up - break clause, release fee, Mourinho verdict

Chelsea remain linked with a move for Victor Osimhen. The Nigerian signed for Galatasaray on loan in the summer after Napoli let him go amid interest from the Premier League.

Since Osimhen moved to Istanbul he has been in prolific form, scoring eight goals in nine appearances. He netted twice during a 3-1 win over Tottenham in the Europa League last Thursday.

Despite this, Osimhen's long-term future continues to be uncertain. The 25-year-old doesn't seem to have a place in Antonio Conte's squad at Napoli and he is expected to leave on a permanent deal next summer.

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Chelsea are among the potential destinations for Osimhen as the Blues look to strengthen their forward line. Nicolas Jackson is their current first-choice No.9 with Christopher Nkunku used as back-up.

Osimhen's form at Galatasaray has raised the question over whether Chelsea might increase their interest in the forward, especially if Napoli are prepared to lower their asking price. With this in mind, football.london take a look at the latest around a potential move for Osimhen to Chelsea...

Break clause

Osimhen's loan deal with Galatasaray includes a break clause that allows him to leave the club in January if a 'big' European club comes in for him, according to reports.

The break clause can only be triggered by 10 clubs that Osimhen named in his contract, with some of those rumoured to be on the list include Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Paris Saint-Germain.

Release fee

It's added that his release clause has been lowered from £108million and down to £62.5m since his loan move to Galatasaray and the Turkish club do not have an option to make the deal permanent.

If a club was willing to pay that amount of money it would make Osimhen the 15th most expensive forward of all-time alongside Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez and Arsenal's Kai Havertz.

Mourinho verdict

Back in September, Jose Mourinho expressed his admiration for Chelsea-linked Osimhen - but the former Stamford Bridge favourite would change one thing about the free-scoring Nigerian.

"Osimhen is a fantastic player," said Mourinho during his interview for HT Spor. "He's a player that, if I was at a club with the potential to pay £70-75 million, I would buy.

"He's a fantastic player. Of course, he comes in different circumstances [to Galatasaray], but in the end that doesn't matter, what matters is that Galatasaray have got an absolutely fantastic player.

"I don't have any problems with Victor. In fact, we have a very good relationship. Every time we play against him, I speak with him because I don't like the way he behaves. He dives too much.

"The last time we played Roma and Napoli and I had this conversation with him. I told him; 'You are one of the two best African players, it's you and [Mohamed] Salah.

"In the past, Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto'o, George Weah... You cannot behave like this [diving]. He dives too much and that's my problem. After 10 minutes, we are fine we have a very good relationship."