Premier League
Chelsea monitoring Victor Osimhen situation at Napoli
Chelsea are keeping an eye on Victor Osimhen’s situation at Napoli after the striker’s agent threatened the Italian champions with legal action, sources have confirmed to 90min.
The Blues have long admired the Nigeria international, who led Napoli to their first Serie A title in 33 years last season.
90min reported back in February that Osimhen was initially Chelsea’s primary striker target ahead of the summer transfer window.
However, as the striker appeared to be nearing an agreement over a new contract at Napoli, they shifted priorities elsewhere – Chelsea ended up making 12 signings ahead of the 2023/24 season instead and viewed Osimhen as more of an attainable target in the summer of 2024.
The situation is now threatening to change, however. Osimhen’s agent, Roberto Calenda, has confirmed that they are considering taking legal action against Napoli after the club posted a video disparaging the striker on TikTok.
The post has since been removed but Osimhen is furious with how the club have treated him.
Calenda said on Tuesday: “What happened today on Napoli’s official profile on the TikTok platform is not acceptable. A video mocking Victor was first made public and then, but now belatedly, deleted.
“A serious fact that causes very serious damage to the player and adds to the treatment that the boy is suffering in the last period between media trials and fake news.
“We reserve the right to take legal action and any useful initiative to protect Victor.”
90min understands Chelsea are continuing to monitor Osimhen’s situation at Napoli, though the Blues were maintaining interest ahead of the summer 2024 window regardless of this latest development.
Earlier on Wednesday, 90min reported that talks between Osimhen and Napoli over a contract renewal had slowed due to a variety of issues in recent weeks, with the TikTok saga only serving to further complicate matters.
Osimhen’s contract currently runs until 2025, while any new deal at Napoli was expected to come with a release clause in the region of £130m (€150m).
Chelsea’s need for a new star striker has become more pressing following their woeful start to the new season.
The Blues have won just one of their opening six Premier League games, scoring only five goals. They currently only have two natural centre forwards in the first-team squad – academy graduate Armando Broja, who is just returning from an ACL injury, and summer signing Nicolas Jackson.
Hopes had been high for Jackson following an impressive pre-season campaign but he has managed just one goal and has already picked up a one-match suspension having picked up five yellow cards – all of these bookings were for dissent.
During the 2022/23 season, Chelsea scored 38 goals in the Premier League. Osimhen alone grabbed 26 in 32 Serie A games for title-winning Napoli, becoming the first African player to win the Capocannoniere.
-90min
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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