Chelsea to Drop Pursuit of Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney After Al-Ahli Seals Deals

Chelsea are considering moves for two alternative strikers in case Ivan Toney and Victor Osimhen are snapped up by Al-Ahli. The Saudi Pro League side have had bids accepted by Brentford and Napoli respectively as Chelsea scramble to salvage their deadline day.

The Blues have been in hot pursuit of Osimhen for weeks as Stamford Bridge chiefs look to bolster Enzo Maresca’s front-line with a statement signing. But they were always likely to come off second-best if it came down to a financial battle between themselves and Al-Ahli.

A monster offer of around £33million per season in wages and a £67m transfer fee has reportedly been accepted by Napoli. Al-Ahli are now waiting for Osimhen to give his seal of approval.

In a staggering turn of events, the Saudi side are also believed to have seen a £40m bid for Toney accepted by Brentford. The striker is set to undergo a medical today before signing a lucrative contract, which will include a massive increase on his current wages.

Though the door to signing Osimhen is not yet closed completely, and reports indicate that Al-Ahli may only sign one of the two strikers, The Independent claim that Chelsea are making contingency plans in case both of their top targets are snatched away.

Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran and Everton marksman Dominic Calvert-Lewin are both being ‘considered’ by the Blues. And swap deals have been touted as the simplest way to bring either Villa or the Toffees to the negotiating table.

Chelsea are trying to offload Raheem Sterling and Armando Broja before the deadline, though it has not been reported that either player has been offered to Villa or Everton. The Toffees do hold an interest in Broja and have been in contact with the youngster’s camp throughout the summer.

Duran has already made an important contribution to Villa’s season as he came on to score the winner at West Ham on the opening weekend. But with Ollie Watkins the undisputed first-choice frontman for Unai Emery, Duran may find starts hard to come by if he remains at Villa Park.

Calvert-Lewin has spent the past eight seasons at Goodison Park, racking up 68 goals in 250 games. But injuries have stunted his progress in recent years and he has been nowhere near the form he showed in 2020/21, when he finished the campaign with 21 goals in all competitions.

Chelsea already have Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu as centre-forward options for Maresca, but they are thought to be intent on recruiting a proven Premier League goal-scorer before the window shuts.