According to Italian press, Napoli wants to recruit defender Takehiro Tomiyasu or midfielder Smith Rowe as part of the contract to sell Victor Osimhen to Arsenal.

Recently, Napoli reached an agreement with coach Antonio Conte. The former Chelsea coach is expected to be officially announced this week. During negotiations with Napoli’s Board of Directors, Conte received the “green light” from the Board of Directors of the Southern Italian club to recruit former student Romelu Lukaku to replace Victor Osimhen.

The price to buy Lukaku is now quite affordable because Chelsea wants to soon part with the Belgian star, thereby having more funds for shopping and optimizing the salary budget under new coach Enzo Maresca. For his part, Osimhen is expected to leave Napoli this summer. He received interest from several Saudi Pro League teams but preferred to stay in Europe.

However, the 25-year-old striker is aiming to move to the Premier League and Arsenal also needs to add a classy number 9. According to Corriere dello Sport, Napoli has not received any official offer for Osimhen. In case of releasing the African striker, Napoli wants to earn about 110 million pounds, equivalent to the contract release fee.

Notably, Napoli is targeting two Arsenal players. They want to recruit defender Takehiro Tomiyasu or midfielder Smith Rowe as part of the deal to sell Osimhen to the Gunners.

Napoli wants Tomiyasu or Rowe to release Osimhen

In order to acquire the striker who has been making waves in Serie A recently, head coach Mikel Arteta may have to give up his favorite player, Tomiyasu. Osimhen led Napoli to the Serie A title and was named the league’s top scorer in the 2022–2023 campaign.

Despite being injured and missing a lot of games in the 2023–24 season, Osimhen managed to score 15 goals in Italy’s top competition. But Osimhen, having fought in Italy for four years, yearned for fresh challenges abroad, particularly in England. With a solid base of physical strength and extensive finishing ability, Osimhen should have no trouble adjusting to life in the Premier League.

Tomiyasu had expressed interest in Napoli in January 2024, but Arsenal would not let their star go because head coach Arteta required a formidable opponent in the Premier League and Champions League campaign.

Smith Rowe, on the other hand, has had difficulty getting into the game under Arteta this season, making only three Premier League starts. The Rice-Odegaard pair’s stability is the cause of this.

Smith Rowe is a 23-year-old Fulham transfer target, and Arsenal will consider offers for the player this summer. Should Arsenal and Napoli decide to trade, Smith Rowe will be given priority over Tomiyasu.

After a difficult season, Osimhen has drawn interest from Chelsea as well as Arsenal. If the Blues keep relying on Nicolas Jackson, a striker who was among the top three players in the Premier League last season who wasted the most scoring opportunities, it will be challenging for them to succeed.

What is Oshimhen’s liking?

The 1998 striker is waiting for Arsenal to make a move to acquire before deciding to visit other teams, according to a recent source from Gazzetta dello Sport.

Arsenal has the advantage over MU, Chelsea, and a host of other teams. The Gunners performed admirably in the previous campaign, but they were still without a true goal scorer, a versatile finisher, or an autonomous up front fighter.

Because Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus haven’t fulfilled their qualifications, Arteta has frequently had to utilize Kai Havertz as a stand-in striker.

Arsenal has other options to add to the attack in addition to Osimhen, including Joshua Zirkzee (Bologna), Viktor Gyokeres (Sporting Lisbon), and Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig).

Naturally, the transfer fees in the aforementioned situations are smaller than those associated with the purchase price of Osimhem. Gyokeres performed the best out of all of them, yet he has never played for a major league team.

Sesko, meantime, is creating a name for himself in the Bundesliga thanks to his remarkable height and aerial ability. Zirkzee is a standout for Bologna, but he didn’t make much of an impact at Bayern Munich, only managing four goals in 17 games for the first squad. It can be the result of underuse. Consequently, purchasing Zirkzee is regarded as the riskiest of the aforementioned choices.

Arsenal needs to retain coach Arteta at all costs

Regarding Arsenal, coach Arteta recently admitted that his future at Arsenal is uncertain: “In football, you should only talk about today as well as discuss what you want to do tomorrow.

At the professional level, I always keep my future uncertain with any team to help keep my mind focused on the immediate goals, keep my feet on the ground as well as the desire to conquer the top. new.

Until now, I still have a good relationship with everyone at the team and I am very happy with my decision now.”

In addition, the Spanish strategist also “boosted” his students’ morale even though the new season officially started in 2 months: “Arsenal will reevaluate the entire previous campaign in all aspects.” of the team, thereby making the most reasonable decisions to help the players improve.

Everything can be improved and better. Every member of the team, from players and staff alike, wants to win more. They always desire to touch the trophies.”