Victor Osimhen to Chelsea transfer issue emerges as striker could be forced to miss 10 matches

Napoli loanee Victor Osimhen could miss as many as ten matches if he signs for Chelsea in the summer transfer window through no fault of his own.

is set to be one of the most in-demand players at the end of this season with it being no secret that he is pushing for a permanent exit from . Last summer, the Blues were keen to bring the 26-year-old to Stamford Bridge to help improve their attack.

However, the Italians proved to be difficult negotiators and eventually the passed in much of Europe without moving. Facing the prospect of at least half a season wallowing in Antonio Conte's reserves, the striker agreed to join Galatasaray on loan for the remainder of the campaign thanks to the Turkish window's longer deadline.

In Turkey, Osimhen has excelled scoring 29 goals in 33 appearances for the club. It has been widely reported that the forward would like to avoid a potential repeat of what happened last year and, as such, would be keen to organise a move sooner rather than later.

side are thought to still be keen on Osimhen with a bid of as little as £63m thought to be enough to secure his services. However, should he sign for , he is set to miss as many as ten matches.

This is due to FIFA's decision to move the from the proposed date of this summer to the end of the year and beginning of 2026. Gianni Infantino's organisation made this call to make room for the expanded , which Chelsea shall be partaking in, this summer.

As such, AFCON will be held between December 21 in Morocco and run until January 18. Nigeria have qualified for the tournament and barring any major fallouts or injuries, Osimhen is expected to be on the plane.

Nigeria will face Tanzania on December 23, Tunisia on December 27 and Uganda on December 30. The round-of-16 is scheduled to take place between January 3-6 with the quarter-finals following on January 9-10.

Both semi-finals will take place on January 14 ahead of the third place play-off on January 17, with the final then taking place in Rabat on January 18. Exactly when the Premier League matches will be played next season is not yet clear albeit there will be no games on Christmas Eve and no winter break in January after an agreement was reached to scrap FA Cup replays.

Osimhen will be expected to meet up at least a week before the tournament kicks off on December 23. And, should Nigeria reach the final of AFCON, the striker may miss as many as 10 matches for the Blues.

This could ultimately persuade Osimhen to join a club that does have a winter break so as to avoid missing important matches over Christmas and the New Year. It will also be a factor that Chelsea will have to consider should they choose to bid for the 26-year-old again.