The Victor Osimhen saga ended in the least pleasant possible, at least for now, since the transfer market in Saudi Arabia will be open for a few more days. Al-Ahli pulled out of the race after failing to reach an agreement with him and Napoli and will sign Ivan Toney instead.
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, the Nigerian striker will remain out of the squad. The Partenopei have already nabbed his replacement, Romelu Lukaku. They kept spending on deadline day, bringing in Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour.
Ah Alhi kept pushing to get the Osimhen deal done all day long. The ace provided an opening but also kept stalling to wait for Chelsea. However, the Blues’ proposal ended up being insufficient. The Saudi side had put €40M annually on the table and €75/80M for Napoli.
Ismael Bennacer is also staying put, at least for now. Milan missed out on Manu Koné and had a meeting with Adrien Rabiot’s agent. Marseille and Atletico Madrid were the final suitors for the Algerian midfielder, but his transfer didn’t come together.
The trifecta of missed deals is completed by Tiago Djaló, who’s not joining Roma after all. He flew to the Italian capital and took the medicals. However, he got tired of waiting for the Giallorossi to make up their mind while they were assessing other options. They are going for Mario Hermoso now.
Our Take on Osimhen, Bennacer, and Djaló
Something odd must have happened in the negotiation as there was significant momentum early on. Perhaps he simply wasn’t enticed enough by the terms amid his hesitance to leave Europe. He still has two years on his contract, but it’ll be a massive headache, also financially speaking.
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