According to UK publication, The Independent, English Premier League giants, Manchester United, are preparing an offer of €110m as they hope to land Nigeria international, Victor Osimhen, during the next transfer window.
With Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS Group taking control at Old Trafford, the Premier League giants are eyeing a massive overhauling of their squad ahead of the 2024/25 season.
United are ready to make a statement in the transfer market after reports emerged on Monday that the Devils are ahead of Paris Saint-Germain and Premier League rivals, Arsenal and Chelsea, in the race for the Napoli striker.
Per The Independent, United are ready to put in a major bid in the forthcoming summer’s transfer window.
“The Nigerian forward has 13 goals this season and helped Napoli win Serie A last time around. Osimhen is wanted by Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and a host of other top teams. He is said to have a €110m release clause in the new contract he signed in Naples recently.”
Despite missing a large chunk of the 2023/24 season due to injuries and his involvement with Nigeria at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, the striker still boasts 14-goal involvement (11 goals and three assists) in 16 appearances in the Italian topflight league.
The 25-year-old has been in fine form for Napoli, guiding the Serie A club to their first league victory in 33 years with a league-high 26 goals in 32 Serie A games last season, and 31 goals across all competitions.
His recruitment will come as a big boost for 20-time Premier League winners United topflight league title winners who have been without a prolific striker since the departure of Dutch striker, Robin van Persie, in 2015.
Osimhen has dominated the headlines with his achievements and is one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe and it came as no surprise that United are ready to splash the cash on the former Lille forward ahead of next season.
After ending the 2022/23 season as the top scorer in Italy’s top division, the Nigerian also became the first African to achieve the feat.
He was also named the Italian Footballers’ Association Serie A Player of The Year for the 2022/23 season.
For the national team, Osimhen, after helping Nigeria qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast and finishing the qualification series as top scorer with 10 goals, the Napoli man only managed to score a goal at the competition but his involvement in the team played a major role in their journey to the final of the competition, where they lost 2-1 to the hosts in the final.
In what has been an astonishing period of his career for the Lagos-born striker, Osimhen became the first Nigerian footballer in history to be named in the Top 10 of the Ballon d’Or with an eighth-place finish.
He also became the first Nigerian, since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999, to be named African Footballer of The Year, beating Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah to the award at the CAF awards ceremony in Marrakech last December.
Credit: punchng.com
