Man Utd are prepared to use Joshua Zirkzee in a swap deal to sign Victor Osimhen from Napoli in the summer transfer window, according to reports.
The Red Devils are still recovering from a dreadful season under Ruben Amorim after the Portuguese head coach failed to improve on Erik ten Hag’s poor start to the campaign.
Amorim’s side will go down as the worst Man Utd team to have played in the Premier League with his 15th-placed outfit winning just 11 matches in 38 this term.
They also blew their ticket to Champions League qualification, which would have boosted their transfer budget, by losing 1-0 to Tottenham in the Europa League final last month.
Man Utd particularly struggled with scoring goals in the Premier League as Zirkzee and fellow striker Rasmus Hojlund came in for lots of criticism.
The strike duo only scored seven Premier League goals between them, although Zirkzee missed the final couple of months through injury.
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Only four Premier League sides scored fewer goals than Man Utd in the 2024/25 campaign and now INEOS’ initial focus in the transfer market is improving their attack.
Matheus Cunha has already arrived at Old Trafford from Wolves in deal worth £62.5m, while Man Utd have also had two bids rejected for Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo.
Man City academy product Liam Delap had reportedly been their top centre-forward target before Chelsea beat them to the Ipswich Town striker’s signature.
There have also been rumours that Man Utd have made contact with Sporting CP over a potential move for Viktor Gyokeres after Arsenal close in on a deal for RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko.
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But now Man Utd could turn towards a long-term target in the form of Osimhen with Italian newspaper Gazzetta Dello Sport claiming that the Napoli striker is ‘waiting’ for the Red Devils as he eyes a ‘dream’ move to the Premier League.
It is claimed that Saudi Arabian clubs are ‘still pressing’ for Osimhen but the Nigeria international ‘sees his immediate future’ in the big European leagues.
Any club interested in Osimhen will have to pay €75m and ‘not a cent less’ and he recently ‘changed his mind’ over a move to Al-Hilal, ‘giving up a three-year contract worth 40 million euros’.
And his ‘torment is destined to continue for the next few weeks, while waiting to find a definitive solution’ and it’s ‘unlikely that the Nigerian will make another U-turn’ and decide to move to Saudi.
During his loan at Galatasaray last season, Osimhen ‘has shown himself to be devastating in an environment that knows how to stimulate and pamper him’ and now Man Utd ‘think’ of signing him.
Osimhen ‘would be an extraordinary calling card to bring enthusiasm and ambition back to Old Trafford’ with Man Utd still ‘studying the best strategy to try to convince’ Napoli to part with the striker.
Man Utd plan to ‘open negotiations with the possibility of including counterparts in the offer’ that will give them a ‘significant financial adjustment’ on the fee.
The report adds that the Red Devils are ‘evaluating the possibility of making an offer to Napoli, putting Joshua Zirkzee at the center of the package’.
Zirkzee ‘would be the ideal alternative to Romelu Lukaku in view of a busy season, in which Napoli wants to aim to repeat’ their Scudetto success.
