Arsenal renew interest in Victor Osimhen. African footballers. Premier League giants Arsenal are planning to bid for Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen after Napoli lowered their asking price.
The Gunners, who finished second in the 2023/24 Premier League season, are now ready to negotiate with the former Serie A champions. On Monday, Il Matino reported that Napoli no longer insists on the €120 million release clause in Osimhen’s contract signed in December 2023.
The 25-year-old forward is not interested in moving to Saudi Arabia, despite attractive offers from the region. Napoli wants to sell him this summer to focus on signing a new striker. However, completing a deal has been tough, although Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is actively working on it.
The Campania newspaper mentioned that Napoli is considering Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku and Ukrainian striker Artem Dovbyk as possible replacements if Osimhen leaves Diego Maradona Stadium this summer.
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In this transfer saga, Manchester United has also shown interest in Osimhen and might propose a player-plus-cash deal involving striker Rasmus Hojlund, who impressed in his first season with the Red Devils.
Napoli is willing to sell Osimhen despite his key role in their recent successes, including winning the Scudetto in the 2022/23 season. The initial release clause of €120m to €130m has been a hurdle for potential buyers, so the club recently lowered their asking price to €100m.
While Chelsea, Manchester United, and Paris Saint-Germain have all been linked with Osimhen, no official bids have been made, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. Napoli also rejected an offer of over €200 million from a Saudi Arabian club last summer.
Osimhen, bought from Lille in 2020 for around €75 million, has become one of the most exciting strikers in world football, making him a highly sought-after target for several top European clubs this summer.
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More about Victor Osimhen
Victor James Osimhen (born 29 December 1998) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Napoli and the Nigeria national team.
Osimhen began his senior career with VfL Wolfsburg in 2017, then moved to Charleroi on loan for the 2018–19 season. He later joined Lille, where he scored 18 goals in one season. In 2020, he transferred to Napoli for a club-record €70 million. He won the Serie A Best Young Player award in 2021–22 and became the league’s top scorer with 26 goals in 2022–23, leading Napoli to their first Serie A title in 33 years. He is the highest-scoring African player in Serie A history.
Internationally, Osimhen won the Golden Boot at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup and debuted for the senior Nigeria team in 2017. He played in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019 and 2023 and is the joint-third highest goalscorer for Nigeria. In 2023, he finished eighth in the Ballon d’Or and was named African Footballer of the Year, the first Nigerian to win the award since 1999.