Former Manchester United coach Benni McCarthy has revealed Victor Osimhen was on the club’s “list” in 2023 when they were searching for a new striker before eventually settling on Rasmus Hojlund, but casts doubts over the Nigerian international’s skillset as a number nine.
United’s Struggling Strikers
Ruben Amorim’s side have struggled to score goals all season, even prior to the Portuguese coach taking the reins at Old Trafford. Only four Premier League sides have scored fewer times than United – Everton and the three promoted sides, Ipswich Town, Leicester City, and Southampton.
Hojlund, signed from Atalanta for £72 million, has just two goals in the league, while Joshua Zirkzee, captured in the summer from Bologna for £36.5 million, has returned three.
The combined price for the ineffective pair amounts to £108.5 million – significantly more than the fee Bayern paid for Harry Kane in the same window United bought Hojlund.
“Erik Really Wanted Him”
McCarthy reveals the England captain, who has scored 73 goals in just 75 appearances for the Bavarian side, was United’s “prime target” but a deal with Tottenham Hotspur was deemed unlikely due to Daniel Levy’s reticence to sell Kane to a domestic rival.
“Kane was the prime target, but obviously, the price tag was an issue. Because he would have been leaving Spurs for United, a few extra million pounds were added on to the price tag”, the coach at Old Trafford from 2022 until 2024 states.
“But for £100million, if you look at it now, you’d say that it would have been well worth it because he’s gone to Bayern and he’s still producing, he’s still scoring. So you think we should have just bitten the bullet and got Harry Kane and then also tried to invest in Rasmus Hojlund.”
The 31-year-old English international was Erik ten Hag’s “no.1 target” that summer – “Erik really wanted him” – and there were reports indicating a move for Hojlund was sanctioned only with the caveat that another experienced number nine was brought in alongside him.
This did not happen, however, and the young Dane was thrown into the deep end at Old Trafford, where second season syndrome has conspired to see the 22-year-old drown in his sophomore campaign.
Interestingly, McCarthy also contends Osimhen was on this “list” of alternatives to Kane, along with French forward Randal Kolo-Muani and, of course, Hojlund.
But the South African coach reveals that for a £100 million price tag, as was Osimhen’s release clause with Napoli at this time, you wanted a “complete package” of a striker, implying the 26-year-old forward has a limited skillset, relative to that price.
“Harry Kane was Erik’s No. 1 target. Erik really wanted him. Kolo Muani was also very high on that list. Victor Osimhen was also on that list. But I felt that if you’re going to want to spend that kind of money – £100million plus – then you want a complete package.”
The are concerns over Osimhen’s link-up play and technical qualities – areas Kane is superb in, despite his goal-scoring prowess. Similarly, the Nigerian striker has suffered a range of injuries in the past, casting further caution over any big-money move.
However, Osimhen’s release clause in Naples is cut to £65 million come the summer and there are few, if any, reliable goal-scorers on the market at present. Amorim’s preference for a striker who makes constant runs in behind the defence, and offers a physical target for the rest of the team to aim for, lends itself perfectly to Osimhen’s skillset as well.
While the 26-year-old may not have been as high on Ten Hag’s list, he’s likely to be right at the top of the Dutchman’s successor’s given the dreadful performances being produced by the existing cohort of strikers at Old Trafford.
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
