Victor Osimhen | out of options | goes to Gala on loan

He did, and he was great that season. That season is pretty much the reason he has this reputation he's 'world class' but he's not been great and neither have Napoli since then. I know he scores well in Italy but outside the likes of Ronaldo, most strikers that leave Italy can't do it anywhere else. We've seen players like Schevchenko move to England and be absolutely shite.
I don't think he's world class but he's definitely in the elite bracket of strikers. As said, he got 20+ goal contributions in Belgium in the top divison, 20+ goal contributions for Lille in Ligue 1 and 20+ goal contributions in three seasons for Napoli including one season where he got 30+. He's clearly an elite striker and should be playing at a far higher level than the Saudi league.
 
In reality he has 3 very good seasons at Napoli but some people obviously don't watch much football outside of the PL, you'll obviously score more goals when your team is performing well and in a title race

Very good seasons? Righto. You're right, you can defo tell the ones who don't watch him.
 
Very good seasons? Righto. You're right, you can defo tell the ones who don't watch him.
Yes scoring + 0.6 goals per 90 as a striker is very good, he had one amazing season but so did the team. He scored 15 in the league this season after missing quite a bit of it and his team performing badly under a new manager
Yes you can tell who watches him and who doesn't clearly.
 
I don't think he's world class but he's definitely in the elite bracket of strikers. As said, he got 20+ goal contributions in Belgium in the top divison, 20+ goal contributions for Lille in Ligue 1 and 20+ goal contributions in three seasons for Napoli including one season where he got 30+. He's clearly an elite striker and should be playing at a far higher level than the Saudi league.
And yet he's never played in an 'elite league'. I know that's a disparaging comment but Italy, France and Belgium are way off England and Spain. I honestly haven't seen him play enough for Napoli domestically so I can't say too much around his suitability to play in a better league but when I have seen him in the CL and the odd game, he hasn't impressed me. Unlike Haaland when he was playing for Leipzig who was dispatching teams on his own.
 
And yet he's never played in an 'elite league'. I know that's a disparaging comment but Italy, France and Belgium are way off England and Spain. I honestly haven't seen him play enough for Napoli domestically so I can't say too much around his suitability to play in a better league but when I have seen him in the CL and the odd game, he hasn't impressed me. Unlike Haaland when he was playing for Leipzig who was dispatching teams on his own.

Ok come on now... in fact what makes La Liga more elite or competiitve for a striker than Seria A where the defending is alot better and strikers tend to score less goals in a season?
 
I don't rate Italy these days. It's gone down hill since the systematic doping got clamped down on.

Uefa coefficients clearly have Seria A on the rise for the past 5 years hence why the PL didn't get its 5 UCL spots
 
On no, wasn't that Saudi club supposed to buy Coman? (Totally expect Chelsea to trigger Osimhen's release clause next transfer window.)
 
And yet he's never played in an 'elite league'. I know that's a disparaging comment but Italy, France and Belgium are way off England and Spain. I honestly haven't seen him play enough for Napoli domestically so I can't say too much around his suitability to play in a better league but when I have seen him in the CL and the odd game, he hasn't impressed me. Unlike Haaland when he was playing for Leipzig who was dispatching teams on his own.

Ligue 1 and Serie A are top 5 leagues. Also to say Serie A isn't an elite league is daft. Haaland played for Dortmund. You're all over the place.
 
Uefa coefficients clearly have Seria A on the rise for the past 5 years hence why the PL didn't get its 5 UCL spots
That's based on European cup performance though, not league strength. Italian teams have done well in the Europa and Conference league in recent years. English teams not so much. But Italian teams have been shite in the CL. So it's not exactly weighted evenly.
 
Ligue 1 and Serie A are top 5 leagues. Also to say Serie A isn't an elite league is daft. Haaland played for Dortmund. You're all over the place.
Not really, I don't rate Italy, France, Belgium as leagues, throw Germany in there if you want, and I think Osimhen is overrated. I'm pretty consistent. Disagreeing with that statement doesn't mean I'm 'all over the place'.
 
That's based on European cup performance though, not league strength. Italian teams have done well in the Europa and Conference league in recent years. English teams not so much. But Italian teams have been shite in the CL. So it's not exactly weighted evenly.

Its an indication of league strength, how good your teams fair against over teams in Europe not just in the UCL but also Europa and Conference leagues is an indication of the strength of your teams at multiple levels. PL top 4 is stronger than seria A but the 5-8/9 teams not so much.
Seria A has a lot of depth of quality teams in that area hence why they have been good in those competitions
Italians teams have been shit in the UCL but one was in the final only 2 season ago outplaying City
 
Not really, I don't rate Italy, France, Belgium as leagues, throw Germany in there if you want, and I think Osimhen is overrated. I'm pretty consistent. Disagreeing with that statement doesn't mean I'm 'all over the place'.

Inter got to the CL final in 22/23 when Napoli won the Serie A and were unlucky not to beat City in the final. Last season Atalanta were the only team that beat Leverkusen all season to win the EL final and they absolutely destroyed them. You indicated that Haaland played for Leipzig when he played for Dortmund. Coefficients are defintely a good way to judge a league as it indicates the level of competition you're up against each week.
 
I’d have had him here but on realistic wages and not for a fee over 60m. He’s certainly got a purpose, probably is one of the better pure strikers about, but I think that says a lot about the lack of players in that particular department.
 
Its an indication of league strength, how good your teams fair against over team in Europe not just in the UCL but also Europa and Conference leagues is an indication of the strength of your teams.
Italians teams have been shit in the UCL but one was in the final only 2 season ago outplaying City
Inter, Milan, Roma, Lazio, Juventus, are all massive names that belong in the CL but most of them are bumming around in the Europa league and Conference league for the most part, which says everything you need to know about the direction these teams have gone in the last 10 years. Inter got to a final and did very well, that doesn't mean Serie A is somehow level with the likes of England and Spain in terms of league quality.
 
Inter, Milan, Roma, Lazio, Juventus, are all massive names that belong in the CL but most of them are bumming around in the Europa league and Conference league for the most part, which says everything you need to know about the direction these teams have gone in the last 10 years. Inter got to a final and did very well, that doesn't mean Serie A is somehow level with the likes of England and Spain in terms of league quality.

Names don't get you into the UCL. Inter were literally in the UCL final 2 seasons ago and haven't played in the Conference league ever by the way.
Roma and Lazio are no longer considered top sides in Seria A they are Villa / Newcastle level Roma probably a little lower, Juve like United going through a bit of a rebuild and due to the competitivness of the league have falling down a little.
Lets face it you clearly have little knowledge of Seria A in its current form so lets just move on
 
Looks like he is being joined at Al-Ahli by Ivan Toney for £40m.. an absolute steal. Why aren’t we on that? They’ve got a better front line than us.
 
Inter got to the CL final in 22/23 when Napoli won the Serie A and were unlucky not to beat City in the final. Last season Atalanta were the only team that beat Leverkusen all season to win the EL final and they absolutely destroyed them. You indicated that Haaland played for Leipzig when he played for Dortmund. Coefficients are defintely a good way to judge a league as it indicates the level of competition you're up against each week.
But they didn't beat them? They lost. And even if they beat them in the final it doesn't mean the league is of amazing quality all of a sudden. Inter haven't exactly set the world alight after losing that final, in fact they sold off their best players and their manager left.

Atalanta were great last year, I watched them in the Europa league, but a well run team doesn't mean the quality of the league is great.

I meant RB Salzburg, not Leipzig. I confused the Red Bull thing.
 
Names don't get you into the UCL. Inter were literally in the UCL final 2 seasons ago and haven't played in the Conference league ever by the way.
Roma and Lazio are no longer considered top sides in Seria A they are Villa / Newcastle level Roma probably a little lower, Juve like United going through a bit of a rebuild and due to the competitivness of the league have falling down a little.
Lets face it you clearly have little knowledge of Seria A in its current form so lets just move on
You're right, I don't watch Serie A because it's largely shit.
 
You're right, I don't watch Serie A because it's largely shit.

Somebody that doesn't watch something and hasn't for years because it was shite years ago, has zero knowledge on its quality today. So again move on
 
But they didn't beat them? They lost. And even if they beat them in the final it doesn't mean the league is of amazing quality all of a sudden. Inter haven't exactly set the world alight after losing that final, in fact they sold off their best players and their manager left.

Atalanta were great last year, I watched them in the Europa league, but a well run team doesn't mean the quality of the league is great.

I meant RB Salzburg, not Leipzig. I confused the Red Bull thing.

and...? To get to the final of the CL indicates that you've been a quality team in some respect.

Coefficients give a good indicator of the strength of the league as do Serie A teams getting to the finals consistently of European competitions in the past few seasons.

It just doesn't sound like you know what you're talking about when it comes to the Serie A.
 
and...? To get to the final of the CL indicates that you've been a quality team in some respect.

Coefficients give a good indicator of the strength of the league as do Serie A teams getting to the finals consistently of European competitions in the past few seasons.

It just doesn't sound like you know what you're talking about when it comes to the Serie A.
Maybe I don't? But looking at the coefficients and saying 'Serie A is a great league' doesn't exactly scream deep knowledge either does it?

Either way, I didn't realise there was so many Serie A experts in here today so I'll accept that I don't know enough to continue this debate into the weeds and jump out.
 
Could have afforded him last summer IF we hadn't spent £100m on Mount and Onana
 
I actually might rate him above Haaland
This is just you wanting to be different :lol:

Osimhen is nowhere near, and he isn't even better than Lukaku at the same age. I don't even understand the hype. Where does it come from? His only elite traits are his physicality and aerial ability, and he arguably only have had one great season and that was in Napoli's title winning season where he scored 26 goals. All the other seasons he has failed to score more than 15 goals.
Lukaku scored 23 and 24 in his first two seasons for Inter, it didn't make him a world class striker.

What this shows is that there is an extreme lack of great strikers these days, probably because the game has changed, but also other factors. However, rating Osimhen over Haaland is genuinely unfathomable.
 
Could have afforded him last summer IF we hadn't spent £100m on Mount and Onana

Mount i agree with, however, we needed a new keeper. Onana is open for debate if he is the right man.

The issue with Osimhen are his wage demands. I dont think we would have spent the amount on him including wages. Even if not as much as the Saudi club, he would had been by far our highest earner.
 
He is set to sign a four-year contract at around £33.6m (€40m) a season – or £646,154 per-week – tax-free.

Beat that
 
Nuts that Napoli mis understood the market so badly. Last summer rejecting a £150mil bid from PSG. This summer lucky to get half that amount as market conditions have changed so much.

Wouldn't be surprised to see him in PL after a season in Saudi Arabia.
 
Chelsea still in the race for this one
 
Nuts that Napoli mis understood the market so badly. Last summer rejecting a £150mil bid from PSG. This summer lucky to get half that amount as market conditions have changed so much.

Wouldn't be surprised to see him in PL after a season in Saudi Arabia.
Only if he drops his wage demands significantly. He will be in nearly 650k per week in Saudi.

In case people haven’t noticed there is a bit of a revolution going on with wages in England. For him to take even a 50% cut would still put him above 300k pw
 
Of course, but wasn't this supposed to be some sort of 'swap' deal?

No? Chelsea's first priority was always about ditching Lukaku on a permanent move, whether it was to Napoli or anywhere else.

Outside of that we've held a long time interest in Osimhen but that move has always been viewed as more or less a long shot because of his salary demands. The idea has been that if Osimhen doesn't want to go to the Saudis we could try to negotiate a reasonable contract if there are no other European clubs after a top striker in this window. But now that he's opened the door to the Saudis it's game over for that plan and chances are we'd have to pay through the nose to actually land him.

It'll be a shame if he actually decides to go waste away in the Saudi League at the age of 25 when he's just about to enter his prime years as a player. But also quite telling of what his priorities are.