Liverpool icon Glen Johnson believes Victor Osimhen will be left “kicking himself” if he makes the switch to Stamford Bridge in January. The Nigerian striker is linked with a move away from Napoli in the New Year with Chelsea among the favourites to snap him up.
Napoli aren’t keen on letting him go midway through this season but could be persuaded by an attractive offer. The Italian giants value their talisman at well over £100million so it would likely require the west Londoners to fork out in excess of the record-breaking £106.8m fee they paid for Enzo Fernandez last January.
While Johnson believes Osimhen would be keen on joining Chelsea he expects the 24-year-old will have his reservations about the move given that Chelsea are currently going through a transitional period under Todd Boehly and co.
Speaking to GGrecon, he said: “Regardless of what’s happening at Napoli, I believe Victor would want to join Chelsea anyway. However, Victor will be kicking himself that this move could happen when Chelsea are currently in transition.
“Of course, they’re a big team and they’re going to bounce back eventually, but as long as Victor is willing to wait 18 months or so for that to happen, then I’m sure he’d still want to sign for them in January.”
Nicolas Jackson has found it hard to adjust to life at Chelsea since signing for the Blues from Villarreal last summer and Johnson anticipates that Osimhen may run into similar problems despite his obvious quality. In fact, the former England international believes Norweigan goal machine Erling Haaland would have a hard time hitting the ground running with Chelsea.
He added: “It’s tough for strikers to move to struggling sides and start banging in the goals straight away; that’s difficult for anyone to do. For example, if Erling Haaland joined Chelsea in January, he wouldn’t score the same amount of goals he’s scoring now.
“It’s hard to assume that Victor’s going to start banging in goals from day one if the move happens, but I think he will score goals in the Premier League and the league will suit him.”
