Chelsea are taking extreme caution in their search for a new striker.

Napoli’s Victor Osimhen continues to be linked with a move to Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea signing the 25-year-old this month looks very unlikely.

According to The Telegraph, the Blues have no appetite to spend £120m on Osimhen during this transfer window.

The outlet has suggested that the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules could be one reason behind the club’s reluctance to fork out on the Nigerian, who has been described as a “world-class striker” by AS Monaco’s Folarin Balogun.

Osimhen only recently signed a new contract at Napoli and is currently at the Africa Cup of Nations, which also does not help Chelsea’s cause.

Paying £120m for the Nigeria international would see the Blues smash their transfer record, the £115m (Sky Sports) purchase of Moises Caicedo.

Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP via Getty ImagesChelsea have no appetite to spend £120m on Victor Osimhen this month

If Chelsea do not want to spend £120m on Osimhen right now, that is fine, especially if they are worried about potentially breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations.

However, if the club really want the Napoli forward, at some point, they will have to pay that kind of money for his signature.

In this current market, where Chelsea themselves are signing midfielders for over £100m, why would Aurelio De Laurentiis settle for any less? Unlike Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, Osimhen is a goalscorer who is capable of winning games for his side.

For example, last term he netted 26 times in Serie A to help Napoli win the title.

Sitting in ninth, Mauricio Pochettino could do with that firepower. It looks like the Argentine will have to wait until the summer for Chelsea to make a move for the former Lille man, though.

There is always the option of the Blues trying to strike a pre-agreement to sign Osimhen, but transfer expert Fabrizio Romano does not think that makes much sense at this moment in time.