Former Chelsea fullback Ola Aina may be joining compatriot Osimhen at Napoli

FORMER Chelsea fullback Ola Aina may be on his way to join compatriot Victor Osimhen at Napoli after the club opened up a line of communication with his current club Torino about Taking him to the Stadio San Paolo.

Highly ambitious Napoli, who are looking to rekindle the glory days of the 1980s when the club had Diego Maradona and Careca on its books, have just broken their transfer record by signing Victor Osimhen from Lille for a fee totalling €81m. Keen to boost the team further, manager Gunaro Gattuso now wants to sign Aina too in a deal that could see Elseid Hysaj move in the opposite direction.

Aina, 23, joined Torino at the start of the 2019/20 season in a €10m deal after having spent the previous campaign there on loan from Chelsea. Coming through the Chelsea youth ranks, Aina is a versatile fullback who can play on either flanks and is very attack minded with his constant forays forward.

He has since established himself as a Super Eagles regular, playing as either a rightback or leftback and during recent African Nations Cup qualifiers, he became a major provider for goals. However, Torino appear to be prepared to cash in on Aina, claiming that he has not been consistent enough, so are open to offers.

Over recent months, Aina's future at Torino has been the subject of speculation, with reports linking him with a return to the Premier League and even French champions Paris Saint-Germain have been credited with an interest in the versatile fullback. Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti and West Ham boss David Moyes have both expressed an interest in securing Aina's services.

Italian transfer market expert Emanuele Cammaroto, said: "Napoli deals with Torino but not the Meret and Sirigu exchange, on which there is no discussion. Instead, there is talk of a possible exchange between Hysaj that interests the Grenades, while Napoli evaluates Ola Aina, a defensive wild card that Giuntoli and Gattuso like."

Aina joined Chelsea as an 11-year old and during the course of his career and has featured for the England youth teams right through from the under 16 to under 20 squads. In 2017, however, he pledged his future to Nigeria, going through a Fifa switch and is now a permanent feature of the Super Eagles team.