Paulo Dybala, Federico Chiesa, and Victor Osimhen are hot names in the final days of the 2024 summer transfer window: here’s why their situations are similar and why they aren’t.
You’ll hear their names multiple times in the last days of the summer transfer window. Chiesa, Dybala, and Osimhen are three of the brightest Serie A stars, but despite that, they are all expected to leave their current clubs this summer.
Osimhen
The Osimhen situation has been known for a long time. The Nigeria international signed a contract extension with a €130m clause in December 2013. He probably thought that leaving the Stadio Maradona was just a matter of time, but eight months later, he has only received an offer from PSG. However, the Ligue 1 giants are reluctant to match his clause or even make an offer close to €100m for Napoli. Chelsea are among the suitors but have only discussed a loan deal with an option to buy, a solution that neither the striker nor the Partenopei like. And while Osimhen is waiting to leave, new Napoli coach Antonio Conte hasn’t involved him in any pre-season game, attracting criticism from Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport. Everyone knows Osimhen wants to leave, but without a convincing offer in the last few days of the summer transfer window, the Nigerian striker will remain at Napoli at least until January 2025.
Dybala
The Dybala situation is entirely different, as it only emerged in recent days that Roma were open to selling the Argentinean ace. The striker’s agent met representatives of Saudi side Al Qadsiah in Rome last week, knowing that the Giallorossi were pushing for a sale. Dybala’s salary has automatically increased to €7m this season, and he will automatically extend his contract to 2026 if he completes 45-minute-long appearances this term. This means that Roma would need to pay nearly €30m gross just for Dybala’s salary for the next two years. The club can’t afford it, so they hope the striker will leave even if most fans see it differently. Dybala already rejected an offer from Al Qadsiah weeks ago. His €13m clause for clubs outside Serie A expired at the beginning of August. Dybala is still training with the first team and was introduced as a substitute in the first game of the season against Cagliari, obviously playing less than 45 minutes.
Chiesa
The third case, Chiesa’s, also differs from the other two. The Italian striker has been frozen out of the Juventus first-team, he was not involved in any pre-season game and wasn’t even on the bench in the Serie A opener against Como on Monday night. His contract expires in June 2025, so Juventus are in a hurry to sell him. If Chiesa stays beyond the summer, he will surely leave as a free agent next year and even if he’s not on Motta’s plans, Juventus know they can cash in on his sale. Chiesa hasn’t received concrete offers yet, but his agent has recently opened talks with Barcelona. Negotiations for a new contract in Turin were never really at an advanced stage because of the player’s demands, so Juventus decided to put him on the market even before the start of the season.
As of today, Dybala, Chiesa, and Osimhen have only one thing in common: We expect to see them play for different clubs in September, although any potential transfer will come under very different circumstances.
