Victor Osimhen has been recognized among the 30 nominees for the 2023 Ballon d’Or Award following his title-winning achievement with Napoli last season
Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Manchester United’s failure to finalize a new takeover of the club was the reason they couldn’t go all out in pursuit of Victor Osimhen in the summer transfer window, Soccernet.ng reports.
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag was in the market for a new center-forward to replace Cristiano Ronaldo, who left the club to join Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr after a fallout between the player and the manager.
There were reports of the Reds Devil’s interest in signing the highly-rated Nigerian forward in the transfer window but a deal did not materialize.
Romano has now revealed that the Old Trafford outfit were priced out of a move, with Napoli valuing the 24-year-old in the region of £150 million.
He explained further that United would have firmed up their pursuit of Osimhen if the takeover of the club had been completed.
The Premier League club’s inability to meet Napoli’s valuation made them switch their attention to Danish International Rasmus Hojlund, who has joined the club for £75 million – half of the 2022/23 Serie A winners’ valuation of Osimhen.
Speaking on Monday’s Debrief podcast for Caughoffside, Romano used the medium to dismiss reports that the former Lille striker rejected a transfer to Manchester United.
He said: With the takeover, they may have had the chance to go for superstar players, there were links with players like Harry Kane and Victor Osimhen, but it wasn’t possible with their financial situation.
This could have been an issue, links for that kind of player couldn’t materialize, and they had to go with a different strategy.
I don’t have any news on the players rejecting United because of the takeover, it’s something normal in football.
Osimhen has started the new season in good form with six goals for club and country in all competitions.
