Victor Osimhen was not included in Napoli's official 23-man squad for this season's Serie A after the Nigerian striker's expected departure from the club failed to materialise.
Osimhen's 26 goals helped Napoli secure their Shield The club won the contract two seasons ago, but everything has gone wrong since then and, although the sought-after player is still at the club, he is not part of their plans for now.
Osimhen, 25, signed a contract extension with Napoli in December, keeping him at the club until 2026 and with a release clause of 130 million euros.
A month later, club president Aurelio De Laurentiis said Osimhen would leave at the end of the season, and in recent days his expected destination appeared to be either Chelsea or Saudi Pro League club Al Ahli.
Negotiations continued until the transfer window closed in both Italy and England on Friday, but with Osimhen's wage demands seemingly unmet by Chelsea, it looked like he was on his way to Saudi Arabia.
However, Napoli did not accept Al Ahli's offer, which went on to sign Ivan Toney from Brentford for a fee reported by ESPN to be £40 million ($53 million) and signed Belgian Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
