Chelsea have become frontrunners in the pursuit of Napoli striker Victor Osimhen who is on the radar of many English Premier League clubs.

Chelsea are looking for an established striker to carry the burden of goalscoring for the new season after finding scoring difficult in the 2022/23 season.

The Blues have only found the back of the net 29 times this season, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the only striker in the squad

According to The Evening Standard, Osimhen is aware of Chelsea’s interest making him their primary target.

They believe the Nigeria international, who has scored 25 goals in 29 games this season, would allow them to compete with the firepower of Manchester City’s goal machine Erling Haaland.

Chelsea’s need is driven by a dismal season in front of goal. They have scored just 29 Premier League goals, more than only seven clubs in the division who all find themselves in a relegation battle. Kai Havertz is the club’s top scorer with nine goals in 36 matches across all competitions.

Manchester United are also interested in Osimhen. They sounded out Osimhen at Lille, before he joined Napoli, but are also keen on Tottenham striker Harry Kane, who has just 16 months to run on his current contract.

Chelsea may have a small emotive edge in that Osimhen grew up idolising Blues legend Didier Drogba and was pictured in the club’s shirt while growing up in Lagos.

The biggest challenge for both clubs is dealing with Napoli, who are notoriously difficult negotiators and are thought to be asking for a fee in the region of €100million (£88m) to €150m (£132m). Napoli’s model relies on selling at least one star every season.

Osimhen could stretch Chelsea’s finances after they announced a £121m loss this week, which they attributed to Government sanctions on previous owner Roman Abramovich last season.