Lille manager Christophe Galtier has confirmed that striker Victor Osimhen will leave the Ligue 1 club at the end of the season.
The Nigerian forward has been linked with a range of Premier League clubs in recent months, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.
He has scored 18 goals in his debut campaign for the French club, bagging 13 in the league in addition to goals in the Champions League and French cup competitions.
A player who can hold up the ball as well as bamboozle goalkeepers himself he also teed up four assists for his teammates in Ligue 1 and has been compared to Didier Drogba due to his style of play.
Still only 21, Osimhen has been tipped to be a worthy competitor to Harry Kane for minutes up front for Spurs and another potential addition to Frank Lampard's attack at Chelsea.
The Blues have already confirmed the signing of Timo Werner from RB Leipzig, and have trusted in Tammy Abraham to lead the line this season, while Michy Batshuayi and Olivier Giroud may well leave the club at the end of the season.
While Stamford Bridge is already set to welcome the arrival of a new striker in 2020, in previous seasons the west London club have splashed the cash on multiple forwards to add depth to their attack.
Alexandre Pato, Loic Remy, Radamel Falcao and Batshuayi have all been signed by the Blues in recent years to increase the options available to the team, with mixed results.
Galtier's latest comments were reported by the Daily Mail, with the Ligue 1 manager confirming that Lille are to lose Osimhen.
"Regarding Victor and Gabriel [Magalhaes], yes, I've known for a long time that they’re leaving," he said.
"They're working hard with us in the meantime. We're working on the players who are currently here and those likely to replace them. Of course, the club is working to replace him [Osimhen]."
Osimhen has discussed his future previously, and played down the idea of leaving Lille for a club like Arsenal, and instead cited Wolfsburg as the sort of team he could be interested in joining.
It would appear that the young forward is well aware that he needs game time, not just a large contract at one of Europe's biggest clubs.
