Manchester City have reportedly made contact with Napoli to discuss a possible summer move for striker Victor Osimhen.
The Nigeria international is spearheading the Partenopei's charge to the Scudetto with a stellar 19 goals and five assists in 22 games throughout the 2022-23 season so far.
Osimhen's efforts have allowed Napoli to open up an 18-point lead at the top of the Serie A table with 12 games left to play, and he sits comfortably at the top of the Capocannoniere charts.
The former Lille man's 19 strikes puts him five clear of closest challenger Lautaro Martinez, while he also has two Champions League goals to his name as Napoli boast a 2-0 lead from the first leg of their last-16 tie with Eintracht Frankfurt.
Osimhen's contract with Napoli is due to run until the 2024-25 season, but the Serie A champions-elect are seemingly facing an uphill battle to retain his services beyond the end of the campaign.
© Reuters
Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis has affirmed that Napoli have no need to sell the 24-year-old, but that is unlikely to deter potential suitors from making an offer.
Despite the presence of Erling Braut Haaland and Julian Alvarez at the Etihad, Sky Deutschland - via football.london - claims that Man City are among the clubs aiming to bring Osimhen to the Premier League this summer.
The report adds that the Premier League champions have made first contact with Napoli to discuss a potential transfer, but the Partenopei would be after €100m (£88.2m) to sanction a sale.
Both Haaland and Alvarez have made their mark during their debut campaigns with Man City this year, and the latter is now said to be on the verge of signing a lucrative new contract.
However, Pep Guardiola seemingly wants to add more firepower to his ranks after losing Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal, who are five points clear of the Premier League champions at the top of the table.
© Reuters
Chelsea will seemingly be Man City's main rivals in the race for Osimhen, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang expected to depart Stamford Bridge as the Blues seek to solve their number nine conundrum.
Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain are also said to be interested in the Napoli man, but the Red Devils are supposedly not willing to meet the Serie A leaders' nine-figure asking price.
Meanwhile, PSG will likely have to offload one of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi before moving for Osimhen, but the latter could depart as a free agent this summer as talks over a new deal fail to yield a positive solution.
Osimhen joined Napoli from Lille in the summer of 2020 for €75m (£66.1m), and the Nigerian has since posted 49 goals and 14 assists in 89 appearances for the Partenopei in all tournaments.
Ben Knapton
