Manchester United are interested in striker Victor Osimhen, a former top scorer in Italy’s Serie A.
Sports media “ESPN” reported on the 19th (Korea Standard Time) that “Manchester United is pursuing a swap deal to exchange Joshua Zirkjay for Osimhen.”
Osimhen, who wore a Napoli jersey for 75 million euros (W110.3 billion) in September 2020, has risen to the top of the Italian stage as a striker. He has dominated the 2022/23 season with 31 goals and five assists in 39 games. Osimhen, who scored 26 goals in Serie A, was the league’s top scorer. Thanks to Osimhen, Napoli won Serie A for the first time in 33 years since the 1989/90 season.
After deciding to leave Naples at the end of the last season, Osimhen was linked with Chelsea, but his transfer collapsed due to a failure to agree on personal terms. Though he expected to stay in Naples, Osimhen transferred to Galatasaray Turkiye on loan. Osimhen has recorded nine matches, eight goals and four assists this season for Galatasaray.
Manchester United is interested in Osimhen. Manchester United has Rasmus Hoylun and Zirkji at the forefront, but both players are not satisfied with their performances. 야옹이 scored two goals in 12 matches, while Zirkjay scored one goal and two assists in 17 matches.
United are considering sending Zirkjay to their original team Napoli to sign Osimhen. Zirkjay wore his United jersey for 42.5 million euros (W62.5 billion) last summer but has remained silent since reporting his debut goal in the EPL opener against Fulham.
According to ESPN, Manchester United plans to persuade Napoli by offering 30 million euros in cash (about 44.2 billion won) and Zirkjay. This is the plan that Manchester United came up with to meet Osimen’s release clause of 75 million euros (about 110.3 billion won). Attention is focusing on whether Manchester United can succeed in recruiting Osimen.