Fabrizio Romano confirms Arsenal rejected €130m striker

Carlo Garganese

Updated: 4 Sept 2024 11:31 BST
3 min read

Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal, 2023/24 — © IMAGO

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Arsenal were offered the chance to sign Victor Osimhen this summer but turned down the proposal.

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Romano says that Napoli representatives offered Arsenal the chance to buy Osimhen in June for €120-130 million.

However, the Gunners immediately rejected this opportunity.

Romano explains that by this time Arsenal had decided not to sign a new number 9, having failed to get their preferred target Benjamin Sesko.

Arsenal had been in talks for Sesko earlier in the summer but the Leipzig attacker decided to sign a new contract instead.

After that development, Arsenal opted not to pursue another striker during the summer.

Osimhen to join Galatasaray on loan

Osimhen is set to now join Galatasaray on loan for the season from Napoli.

Osimhen will join the Turkish team on loan until June 2025. It will be a dry loan with Galatasaray simply covering his salary from September until June at a cost of €10 million.

© IMAGO - Osimhen will join Galatasaray on loan

Osimhen will sign a new contract with Napoli until 2027 to protect his value but his release clause will be lowered to €75m from €130m.

Galatasaray opened negotiations for Osimhen only on Monday after the Nigerian failed to complete a transfer before the end of the main European transfer window on Friday.

Osimhen saw Deadline day transfers to Al-Ahli and Chelsea collapse for financial reasons.

The attacker had spent the entire summer searching for a new club and sacked his agent when this wasn’t forthcoming.

The 25-year-old had been frozen out of the squad at Napoli, with no chance of being reintegrated under new manager Antonio Conte.

Instead of spending the entire first half of the season training on his own, Osimhen has opted to join Galatasaray on loan.

Osimhen saw his relationship with Napoli sour last season, following the TikTok scandal in which the club’s own social media team mocked his penalty miss with Bologna.

Osimhen had a largely difficult season on the pitch, while Napoli endured a disastrous defence of the Scudetto they won in the 2022-23 season as they finished 10th in Serie A.

The Nigerian had been a key player in the Scudetto campaign, scoring 26 league goals in 32 games.