'I'm trying to get him to Chelsea!' - John Obi Mikel jokes he is Victor Osimhen's 'agent' and pushes Napoli star to snub Man Utd & PSG to follow in his footsteps

Chelsea cult hero Mikel has claimed that he is doing everything he can to push Osimhen towards Stamford Bridge, and says that the Napoli striker wants to make the move, although reports suggest he would cost as much as €130 million (£110m/$140m). However, he accepts that there is plenty of rival interest, namechecking both Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain.

Mikel said at the Web Summit Qatar: "I think there's genuine interest between both (Chelsea and Osimhen). I think he loves the club, he wants to come to the club, obviously he wants to follow in my footsteps as a Nigerian player who has played for Chelsea, like Victor Moses, Celestine Babayaro, there's not a lot of us. London as well, a fantastic city, instead of going to Liverpool or places like that, you want to live in London. But he also has a lot of interest, like PSG, Man United, but I'm still pushing, sending him messages, trying to make sure he doesn't expect too much, just narrow your mind on one club: The Blues!"

Asked if he is acting as "agent Mikel", he replied: "I am. I am pushing him. I hope he comes to the club, because he will bring so much to the club. I think the one thing we lack, anybody who watched the [Carabao Cup] final on Sunday will see the one thing we are lacking is scoring goals. We need that striker who will score goals. That's what Victor will give you. He's not the most skilful guy but goals, definitely a guarantee."

Osimhen has scored 11 goals in 15 Serie A games this season and has a proven track record of hitting the back of the net; in 122 appearances for Napoli, he has scored 72 goals for the club. Chelsea have seen their striker struggle to find the net with regularity this season, with only two players in double figures for the campaign: Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson.

It remains to be seen if Chelsea will actually be able to afford the Nigeria international, given their Financial Fair Play concerns. Reports have suggested they need to receive up to £100m ($128m) from player sales this summer to be able to buy new players.