Victor Osimhen Man Utd

Victor Osimhen to Man Utd: What Went Wrong?

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I can still remember all the social media posts saying “Victor Osimhen to Man Utd!”, and there are still some fans out there cursing the fact that the Nigerian goal machine might have come to Old Trafford and didn’t. I hate to break it to you lads, but it was never going to happen. Move on.

There was a brief period of time where it looked like a move to Manchester might be on the cards for Osimhen, though, and fans understandably got excited.

A clinical finisher, still in his prime, capable of leading the line – he seemed like exactly the kind of upgrade United needed. But now that the deal is dead and he has committed long-term to Galatasaray, we can look into why the move failed, and why any revival is all but impossible.

So what went wrong? Well, the deal was never as close as you might have thought, and this is why it stalled.

Why United Wanted Osimhen

The most expensive African player ever, one of Europe’s most feared forwards, 76 goals and 18 assists for Napoli, making 94 goal involvements in 133 games, 26 years old and approaching his prime – if a signing ever sold itself on paper, it was Victor Osimhen.

Plus, once he fell out with Antonio Conte at Napoli and went to Galatasaray on loan, he banged in 37 goals in 41 games in all competitions and helped them win the double of the SΓΌper Lig and the Turkish Cup.

At the same time, Man Utd had suffered through our worst Premier League season on record, winning nothing, and with poor old Rasmus HΓΈjlund seemingly allergic to scoring goals.

Who wouldn’t want Victor Osimhen, especially in a situation like that?

It would have been a statement signing, too. A declaration from the club and the new owners that they were serious about turning things around and acting like a serious club again. But after lots of headlines, the story went cold.

Why it Didn’t Work Out

There are conflicting reports about whether or not Osimhen ever really wanted to come to Manchester United. We had explored signing him before but he hadn’t been keen, although he had also said he wanted to play for a big club in England.

Even if he was open to the move, he obviously didn’t want to come that badly, because in the end, the major obstacle was his salary.

Reports varied wildly, but some say he wanted more than even Bruno Fernandes got paid, suggesting he had demanded as much as Β£365,000 per week. Others estimate much lower demands of Β£200,000 per week, but whatever the truth, it was too much for United.

On top of that, he had settled at Galatasaray who were desperate to keep him and offering mental money, and Napoli needed to get the deal done. They had even dropped their asking price by Β£9 million to facilitate a move, but Osimhen’s team and Man Utd just couldn’t make the deal work.

We were focussing on the Mbeumo deal and still had other targets for the role Osimhen would fill, so the potential transfer ground to a halt as we refused to outbid Galatasaray.

There were other issues too, such as sell on clauses and penalties if Osimhen ended up back in Italy within 2 years, that collectively made any deal look less attractive and financially reckless. Not to mention questions about Osimhen’s character.

The last thing we wanted was another ego maniac holding us to ransom. You listening Jadon Sancho?

It Won’t Happen in the Future Either

Victor Osimhen Galatasaray

Osimhen signed a 4 year deal at Galatasaray, and for big money too. He earns €15 million per year in salary, plus extras and money for image rights etc. That means he is tied in until he is 30, and signing older players hasn’t worked out too well for us in recent times, has it?

To get him out of there any earlier would cost massive money, and I just don’t see the current leadership team signing off on that. They are putting the breaks on that sort of thing. Especially when we are talking about a player who clearly has no real affinity with the club.

Plus, we’ve got Sesko who has had a decent start, as well as the rest of the revitalised front line. We may end up singing more firepower up front, but it won’t be for mega money, and in terms of time frames, Victor Osimhen’s career will be at the wrong end before he becomes a viable target again.

The football world moves fast, and this is just one of those deals that wasn’t meant to be, and honestly, I think it’s for the best. Record breaking signings and unaffordable pay packets are what started the cycle of waste we are currently breaking out from. There is no guarantee Osimhen would have thrived in the Premier League, plenty of big stars from other leagues have the wind knocked out of them in England.

The Victor Osimhen to Man Utd deal looked exciting on paper, but I’m glad it didn’t happen. Our new approach needs to be sustainable and sensible, not headline chasing.