Chelsea will not become the highest-paid player in the Premier League in their pursuit of a goal-scoring star

Chelsea's bid to sign Napoli forward Victor Osiman has been delayed due to his high wage demands of £500,000-a-week. According to reports, the Nigerian player wants a salary that would make him the highest paid player in the English Premier League.

Chelsea have been in talks with Napoli and Osiman's representatives all summer, but no agreement has been reached yet. The club have attempted to sign Osiman on loan as they are unwilling to pay £110m to activate his release clause. But Napoli did not accept the loan offer.

Osiman, 25, is expected to leave Napoli after handing in an official request to leave, while Paris Saint-Germain are also interested.

Chelsea are desperately trying to reduce their wage bill, which is one of the reasons why players like Raheem Sterling have been left out of the squad. The Chelsea club does not intend to respond positively to Osiman's financial requests. The club are also on the lookout for other strikers, with the likes of Juventus' Federico Chiesa and Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin as cheaper options.

Chelsea have made five new attacking signings out of a total of 11 new signings this summer, but Enzo Marsca is determined to add another striker to the squad. Nicholas Jackson and new signing Mark Givio are his team's only specialist strikers, although Christopher Nkunko and Cole Palmer are also capable of playing in attacking roles.

Maresca also wants to sign another centre-back before the transfer window closes on Friday. But the club's priority in this critical week is to sell most of the 20 players that the Italian head coach left out of the team.

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