Antonio Conte reveals Napoli 'agreement' with Victor Osimhen after Arsenal interest

06/26/2024 03:27 PM

Antonio Conte has indicated that Napoli will honour their agreement to sell Victor Osimhen this summer.

The Nigeria international has attracted interest from several clubs including Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal and turned down an offer to move to the Saudi Pro League last year.

Napoli have agreed to let Osimhen leave this summer but the club are holding out for a team to meet his €130 million (£110.8m) release clause.

However, that figure is proving to be too expensive for clubs in Europe and Napoli could now face the prospect of lowering their asking price in order for a sale to go through.

Conte addressed the media for the first time on Wednesday since becoming Napoli’s head coach and revealed that he has received assurances that Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Frank Anguissa and Stanislav Lobotka will not be sold, however, he could not say the same for Osimhen.

‘As far as Osimhen is concerned, just as I knew very well about the situation of Kvara, Di Lorenzo, Anguissa, Lobotka, on which I have placed an absolute veto,’ Conte said.

‘Having said that, I know what the situation is regarding Osimhen. I know that there are agreements, that it is a situation different from all the others. I can only assist.

‘He is a player of the highest level, exceptional, but I cannot enter into any discussion because it is part of previous agreements which have been clearly stated to me.’

Conte also confirmed that Kvaratskhelia, who had attracted strong interest from Paris Saint-Germain, will be a key part of his plans at Napoli.

‘He’s staying,’ Conte said.

‘I’ve been very categorical about this. The president gave him this wonderful news.

‘Kvaratskhelia is a player that there are fewer and fewer with these characteristics, so it’s not a whim to want to keep Kvara.

‘I consider him a really strong player, like Di Lorenzo. Strong in one-on-one situations if he’s on the wing, but also strong when he comes inside, but he’s also a playmaker, he creates situations not only in terms of his goals but also very important assists.

‘I think that if you systematically keep Kvara on the pitch, he loses a bit of his mental freedom, I think. We have to indulge his characteristics, we’ll do this with him and with the players we have in the squad.’

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