For those who’ve been excited with Manchester United being linked to Napoli star Victor Osimhen in the past few hours, here is some very discouraging news from the Italian media.
Outlet Calcio Napoli 24 today held an interview with Oma Akatugba, who besides being a journalist, is actually very close to the player as well.
Following the rumours that Osimhen could be on his way to Manchester United, with Cristiano Ronaldo making a switch to Napoli, the reporter now basically dismisses the chances of a swap, at least in case it’s the Nigerian player who makes the final call.
“Yes, I read it. No surprises. There have been links between Victor and several clubs in Europe, and recently, Manchester United. I’d say that, being someone close to Victor, I actually had this kind of discussion two weeks ago. Where people talk to me of Victor going to Manchester United, and I said to them Victor is happy in Naples. Victor has an agent. If any clubs want Victor they can go and speak to Napoli. So it doesn’t really surprise me.”
Akatugba was also asked if by not playing in the Champions League, Manchester United have a lesser chance of signing Osimhen, who will play in the elite European competition with Napoli.
The journalist made it clear that the striker is highly focused on playing the tournament, and that’s a very good reason not to choose a move to the Red Devils.
“Very good question. And I’m not going to speak as a journalist, I’ll speak as somebody who’s very close to Victor. Victor Osimhen is looking forward to playing in the Champions League. I don’t think that Victor Osimhen wants to leave Napoli. You know, sometimes in football, things can be out of the control of the player.
“But if Victor can decide, he doesn’t want to leave Napoli, at least not this season. Victor is very happy, he was speaking yesterday about the Champions League draw. And he’s happy that he’s going to play against Liverpool, he’s going to play against Ajax. Victor is a player for the big stages and the Champions League is the biggest stage that we can imagine for a footballer. Manchester United are not playing the Champions League.”
Osimhen not only had a great season in 2021/22, having scored 18 goals, but also started 2022/23 pretty well too, with two goals in his first two appearances.
That’s the promise of another great year for the forward, who’ll certainly continue to be linked to Europe’s top clubs.
