CBS Journalist Ben Jacobs has told TEAMtalk that Manchester United and Chelsea are among the clubs keeping tabs on Napoli striker Victor Osimhen.
Osimhen has been long linked with a move to England and United were heavily creadited with an interest in the Nigerian last summer. A deal, however, could not materialize and the 24-year-old ended up staying at Napoli.
Osimhen has been in fine form this season, scoring 21 goals from 26 appearances in the Serie A, and is one of the main reasons why the Gli Azzurri are currently running away with the league. It is understood that Osimhen is heavily focused on winning the Scudetto with Napoli and trying to achieve the impossible in the UEFA Champions League.
While Jacobs has said that the striker is in no hurry to leave Napoli, the journalist claims it’s Osimhen ‘dream’ to play in the Premier League and Man Utd are among the clubs keen on luring him to England. However, they’ll face competition from Chelsea and any deal will cost at least £90m:
“Victor Osimhen wants to play in the Premier League. He’s said that is his dream, but he’s in no rush to leave Napoli. Napoli are tough negotiators, that’s for sure.
“There’ll be interest in Osimhen. It’s going to take a massive fee, something at least in the region of £85-90m plus and some believe even more. Napoli are flying and if Napoli hadn’t had the season that they’re having it might be a different story. But Osimhen is really only focused at the moment on trying to do something incredible in the Champions League with Napoli and in Serie A.
“I think that Manchester United and Chelsea are two Premier League clubs very much tracking Osimhen. They’re aware that it’s not going to be easy to get a deal done at value with Napoli. But no doubt they will play into the fact that Osimhen does dream of moving to the Premier League. I don’t think it’s absolutely guaranteed that he will move in the summer compared to 2024.
“Because even if the player had his interest piqued by a concrete offer, you’ve got to agree a fee with Napoli who are one of the toughest negotiators in all of European football.”
(source: TEAMtalk)
Our View
Erik ten Hag has been scouring the market for a striker since his arrival at Old Trafford but his side have done reasonably well without a proper number nine this season. In fact, Marcus Rashford has hit a purple patch under the Dutch tactician, registering 14 goals and three assists from his 25 appearances in the Premier League. Overall, he has scored 26 goals from 41 appearances this term, helping ten Hag’s men to cope well without a striker.
The Red Devils though, are likely to invest in that department next summer and Osimhen would be a superb signing if they could pull it off.
Chelsea on the other hand, are looking to part ways with Romelu Lukaku come to the end of the season and thus it makes sense for them to go after Osimhen, who is likely to succeed in England, given his particular set of skills.
