Galatasaray have tabled a contract proposal worth around €16 million a year to Victor Osimhen but the long-term Manchester United target retains a desire to play in the Premier League, according to reports from Italy.
Osimhen, 26, spent last season in Istanbul after joining Galatasaray on loan at the end of the summer window last year after a public fallout with Napoli officials, having come close to signing for Chelsea.
The Nigeria international proved a revelation for the Lions, however, scoring 37 goals and providing eight assists in just 41 games, propelling his adopted side to a triumphant league and club double.
Galatasaray were desperate to keep Osimhen beyond his season-long loan but there was widespread expectation he would return to Napoli and seek a move to one of Europe’s elite instead.
Osimhen’s contract at the Diego Armanda Maradona Stadium contains a release clause worth around £60-65 million this summer. But this is only applicable to clubs outside of Italy, meaning Juventus – who hold a strong interest in their rivals’ striker – would have to pay far in excess to secure Osimhen’s signature.
Chelsea were reported to be interested in revisiting a move while Arsenal and Paris-Saint Germain were also keeping tabs on the 26-year-old striker.
But United are also a suitor of Osimhen, having considered a move to sign him in 2023 before eventually settling on Rasmus Hojlund as a cheaper alternative.
The Danish international has endured a miserable campaign at Old Trafford this season, however. Along with Joshua Zirkzee, signed last summer from Bologna, Ruben Amorim’s senior striking partnership combined for just seven league goals.
A new number nine is considered an urgent priority by United executives with the club entering talks with Liam Delap only for the Ipswich Town striker to rebuff this interest in favour of a switch to Chelsea. As a result, the club are now reconsidering alternative options with Osimhen an avenue that may potentially be explored.
However, there was a sense amongst interested clubs that the Nigerian striker would complete a blockbuster switch to the Saudi Pro League this summer with European sides unable to match his wage demands.
Al-Hilal had identified him as a key target and made a series of eye-watering offers to secure his signature, worth as much as €45 million a year – a figure no club in Europe could dream of matching.
But Osimhen has rejected these proposals from the Middle East with Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport contending he maintains aspirations of playing in the Premier League, offering a potential lightning bolt to United’s pursuit.
“Osimhen has a weakness for the Premier League, he has never hidden it, [and it] is at the forefront of his thoughts,” the report reveals.
Furthermore, Corriere dello Sport, another outlet in Italy, states Galatasaray have tabled a contract offer worth €16 million annually, with the potential of further bonuses on top. This would convert to a yearly salary of £13.5 million, worth around £260,000 a week – an expensive wage packet but a realistic one at Old Trafford where a host of players earn a similar amount, if not more.
But it also means the number of options for Osimhen to accept this summer are rapidly dwindling.
A move to Saudi Arabia has been rejected; clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal – operating in the league Osimhen dreams of playing in – have identified alternative targets (e.g. Liam Delap and Benjamin Sesko); the noise over a move to PSG has barely elevated beyond a whisper; and there is absolute certainty the striker will not play for Napoli again.
As such, United are presented with a unique opportunity to target a proven goal-scorer in his prime with a costly, but reasonable, transfer fee with the only competition being a club from Turkey offering a contract proposal they could readily match.
It is one the Red Devils cannot afford to squander.
Featured image Ahmad Mora via Getty Images
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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.
