Chelsea handed vital £130m striker boost as Man City get concerning update on latest transfer target

As if beating Fulham at Craven Cottage wasn’t enough, Chelsea fans have been handed even more reason to pop on a party hat and celebrate good times this week – at least, they do if you believe Caught Offside, who reckon that the Blues’ chances of bagging star striker Victor Osimhen have just gone up.

They “understand” – and look, there’s no source here, so let’s take this with a substantial pinch of salt – that their main rival for the Nigerian’s signature, Paris Saint-Germain, have decided to look for a different type of forward next summer with a wide player capable of replacing Kylian Mbappé at the top of their agenda. With Osimhen’s relationship with Napoli getting rockier after the club posted a meme mocking him on their social media accounts, a deal does look pretty plausible – but the Italian champions will still want something at least close to his release clause, which sits at a hefty £130m. FFP? Never heard of it, mate.

The 3AM Verdict: It goes without saying that Chelsea, a team who have been distinctly goal shy in the early stages of Mauricio Pochettino’s reign, would get some pretty good mileage out of one of the best forwards in Europe. Whether they can even come close to balancing the books enough to buy him and stay in the black when it comes to the Premier League and UEFA’s various financial rules remain to be seen. They’ve probably got another flash sale in them, let’s be honest.

City set to be saddened by Simons

Readers of our weekly Wonderkid Power Rankings will know all about Xavi Simons, the stellar Dutchman who re-signed for PSG in the summer but has since been loaned out to RB Leipzig, where he has promptly taken the Bundesliga by storm. Anyway, 90min reckon that both Manchester City and Barcelona, whose academy he came through, are keen on signing the youngster – but they’re both set to be disappointed.

PSG are dead set on keeping Simons in the French capital, according to 90min’s unspecified sources, and will resist any attempts to prise him away in the summer and have told potential suitors that he is “a huge part of their future”.

The 3AM Verdict: Having watched a lot of Simons in the past year or so, it’s easy to see why so many big clubs would be keen on his signature. He’s technically outstanding, great at finding half-spaces between defence and midfield, and even better at sticking it in the back of the net. That’s also exactly why PSG are absolutely right to make him central to their future plans rather than shop him out for a quick profit. It’s not like Qatar needs the cash, anyway.

Barcelona outline Fati future

Brighton loanee Ansu Fati, who scored his first goal for the Seagulls in their rather crushing 6-1 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday, may have found out a bit more about his future prospects after Barcelona, the Spanish wonderkid’s parent club, decided to put him up for sale when his loan comes to an end next summer.

This is according to Sport Witness, themselves quoting Spanish outlet Sport, who claim that for all their recent book-balancing Barcelona still need to make a big sale in order to progress their future transfer plans – plans which presumably include adding João Félix on a permanent basis after he started his career in Catalonia at a canter. Apparently Sport report that Fati has had “a hard time adapting” to life in Brighton, which seems a bit premature given that he’s only been there five minutes, but presumably the south coast club would be more than welcome to make a bid when the time comes.

The 3AM Verdict: There is a lot of statistical evidence to suggest that Fati hasn’t lost that much of a step after a series of injuries derailed his progress at Barcelona, but he hasn’t yet proven his value in the Premier League, so it’s far too early to speculate as to whether Brighton would stump up for his permanent signature – but sufficed to say that he would almost certainly set a new transfer record for the Seagulls if he did. We just want to see a huge talent fulfil his enormous potential, wherever he ends up, but it looks like that won’t be at the Nou Camp.