Chelsea ‘angered’ Victor Osimhen and blew up transfer with ‘pay cut’ request

Chelsea are said to have blown apart their efforts to sign their main striker target with a low offer.

Chelsea’s low-ball wage offer is said to have angered Victor Osimhen and spoiled any potential deadline day transfer.

The Blues were said to be pushing hard to land the Napoli superstar on deadline day, reportedly sending representatives to the South of Italy in an attempt to strike a deal with Napoli.

The Blues are said to have proposed a loan deal with a mandatory option to buy, delaying the bulk payment in a bid to skirt Profit and Sustainability rules.

That left many wondering why Napoli would turn down the deal, especially after they signed Romelu Lukaku and Al-Ahli walked away from the Osimhen deal despite having a bid accepted, ultimately deciding to sign Ivan Toney from Brentford.

But reports in Italy now say that Chelsea were to blame for the deal falling apart, specifically because they angered the superstar striker with the pay cut wage offer they made to the frontman. According to Gianluca Di Marzio on Sky Sport Italia, Chelsea offered just £3.36million (4million euro) in upfront salary and additional fee of the same amount in bonuses per season. That means Osimhen would only have pocketed half of his usual £8.4million (10million euro) in upfront salary had he made the Stamford Bridge move.

While Al-Ahli were still pursuing a deal, the world-class striker is said to have been offered a salary worth an eye-watering £33.6million per season (40million euro). Though, the cash-rich Saudi club ultimately decided to go with the cheaper option in Toney. At time of writing, that deal is yet to be confirmed but is expected to go through in the coming hours.

With Osimhen preferring to stay in Europe, as his agent has highlighted, it’s unlikely he would have expected Chelsea to match the Saudi wages, but the report claims their offer angered him and ultimately scuppered a move.

Osimhen now faced staying put unless another Saudi Arabian club make a move for him before their national window shuts early next week.

If he does not seal a move, there are reports that Osimhen will be kept away from the Napoli first-team squad having angered people within the club. Napoli have already signed a replacement in now former Chelsea frontman Romelu Lukaku.