Why Osimhen isn't interested in joining Man Utd

Stuart Telford

• 20 Dec 2022 20:42 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United want Victor Osimhen to be their main striker going forward, but the Napoli goal machine has no intention of leaving the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

United are in the market for a No.9 following Cristiano Ronaldo's release on the eve of the World Cup.

The Portuguese had already been dropped in favour of Marcus Rashford when he lashed out against the Glazer family ownership and manager Erik ten Hag in a controversial interview with Piers Morgan.

READ: Ten Hag's Dream Man Utd XI

But Rashford would rather play on the left, and Osimhen has long since been scouted as a premium player to lead the line; one who has plundered nine goals in 11 Serie A games so far this season.

While Osimhen would set United back a pretty penny - he is rated at €42.6 million by Football Transfers' in-house algorithm - United's biggest problem is that the Nigerian simply doesn't want to leave.

Serie A ambition

"It's hard to think about something better than Napoli, one of the best clubs in Italy," he told Naples daily newspaper Il Mattino. "Right now, I'm only focused on this season because we haven't done anything yet. We must win something and then we'll see what happens."

READ: How much will Man Utd pay for Victor Osimhen?

Napoli are currently top of Serie A, eight points clear of champions AC Milan after 15 games played, and dreaming of a first Scudetto since Maradona inspired them to the title in 1990.

Osimhen may not quite be held in Maradona's regard in Naples, but he has become a cult hero after scoring 38 goals in 76 games following his €70m arrival from Lille in 2020, and had a fan-pleasing answer when asked what his favourite strike is.

"It's the one that will make us win the title," he said. "The dream's there already. I can only imagine what would happen in the city if we win it. The path is still long, we must keep winning games."