Huge £70m price tag on Osimhen

LILLE owner Gerard Lopez has insisted that the club have already received offers for star striker Victor Osimhen but has warned it will take a fee close to £70million to sign him.

Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United have been linked with the 21-year-old, as they look to bolster their striking options.

The striker’s representative previously has confirmed the only club to firmly express an interest in the Nigerian international so far is Napoli.

However, he revealed that the Magpies are “in the race” alongside Spurs for the 21-yearold’s signature in the next window.

Osimhen has netted 18 Ligue 1 goals this season, having joined Lille last summer.

The Lagos-born forward starred while on loan at Belgian Pro League side Sporting Charleroi last season but failed to make a significant impact at his parent club, Wolfsburg, during his two campaigns in their first team.

Lille have a history of cashing in on their star assets, having sold Nicolas Pepe to Arsenal last summer for an eye-watering £72million fee.

However, Lopes has insisted the club have no interest in selling Osimhen, despite the impact of Covid-19, warning that they have already received offers and it will take another fee close to the deal for Pepe for any transfer to be sanctioned.

“There are multiple offers,’ he said.“We turned down one English and one Spanish offer this January transfer window.

“There is a wide array [this summer] and I wouldn’t want to give the names of the clubs who are bidding but what I can tell you is that there are multiple [offers]. There are three championships that have clubs that have bid for him.

“I am not being a sales guy because last year people didn’t believe that we had the offers we had with [Nicolas] Pepe and it turns out we had multiple of them,’ he added.

“Let me tell you with Osimhen, it is the same thing, whatever number you heard, the high number I have read is very much on the money of the offers that we have received. That’s where we are.”

Osimhen joined the club for around £10m last summer and signed a five-year deal, with Lille looking at the possibility of making a huge profit 12 months on if he does leave this summer.