Man United preparing audacious €140m bid for Victor Osimhen in quest to launch title challenge

ENGLISH Premier League giants Manchester United are said to be planning an audacious  €140m bid for Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen in a desperate attempt to lure him to the English Premier League and revive their flagging title challenge.

Manchester United are currently lying in eighth place in the table after four matches and are not looking convincing at all. Keen to get back to the winning ways that saw them lift 20 Premier League title, the Manchester side had been planning to buy Ajax attacker Antony, but the reigning Eredivisie champions were not interested in a sale.

With time running out in the transfer window, celebrated agent Jorge Mendes is reportedly cooking a super deal that would take Osimhen to Old Trafford and Cristiano Ronaldo to Napoli. Osimhen has made it clear he was not in favour of such a switch as he wants to play Uefa Champions League football with Napoli but Man United may be back with another bid.

Osimhen has enjoyed a stellar start to the season, scoring in both opening Serie A matches as Napoli wallopped Hellas Verona and Monza with an aggregate scoreline of 9-2. Brought in from Lille in a club-record deal worth €70m in 2020, the 23-year-old has experienced mixed fortunes in southern Italy.

Recurring injury issues have curtailed Osimhen’s progress at Napoli but when fit and firing, he has been Luciano Spalletti’s most lethal weapon in front  of goal.  However, Man United boss Erik ten Hag requires an out-and-out striker after parting with Edinson Cavani earlier in the summer.

Having narrowly won against Southampton on Saturday, Manchester United are lacking in a goal-hungry centre forward with the physicality to handle Premier League defenders. Marcus Rashford struggled in his battles with Southampton's Armel Bella-Kotchap, while Cristiano Ronaldo showed an inability to outpace defences on a couple of occasions when he was brought on.