Romelu Lukaku stops Victor Osimhen joining Man Utd

Carlo Garganese

• 25 Sept 2024 17:30 BST
• 4 min read

Romelu Lukaku’s brutal form for Chelsea was a key reason why Manchester United opted against moving for Victor Osimhen this summer.

Osimhen was available for transfer all summer, while United were in the market for at least one number nine.

Signing Osimhen, who wanted to move to the Premier League and had enjoyed a prolific spell at Napoli and led them to a historic Scudetto in 2023, seemed like a no-brainer for United.

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However, ESPN reports that United were partly scared off Osimhen because of Lukaku’s struggles at Chelsea.

Lukaku had looked like a world-beater at Inter between 2019 and 2021, scoring 64 goals in 95 appearances and leading the Nerazzurri to the Serie A title.

This prompted Chelsea to pay a then-club record transfer fee of €115 million for Lukaku in 2021.

But he was a disaster during the 2021-22 campaign, falling out with manager Thomas Tuchel, criticising the club publicly and performing poorly on the pitch.

He was sent out on two successive loans before finally being sold at a massive loss to Napoli this summer.

There were fears in the United hierarchy that Osimhen’s exploits at Napoli - 76 goals in 133 games - may be more due to Serie A being at a weaker level than the Premier League.

The concerns were that when Osimhen moved up to the Premier League, he would also struggle like Lukaku playing at a better level.

Thus, Man Utd opted against moving for Lukaku.

Osimhen to Galatasaray on loan

Osimhen eventually joined Galatasaray on loan for the season from Napoli until June 2025.

It is a dry loan with Galatasaray simply covering his salary from September until June at a cost of €10 million.

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He made his Galatasaray debut in the 5-0 win over Rizespor earlier this month, assisting a goal.

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

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 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.