According to Charles Watts, Osimhen joining Arsenal may not be a swoop that the Gooners should look forward to.
Arsenal are expected to sign a top striker in the summer. Their No. 9s, Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah, haven’t lived up to expectations. Their wastefulness in front of goal was a major worry during the first half of the season.
Things have improved in the second half of the season, but Gabriel and Nketiah haven’t played a particularly important role in Arsenal’s current run of 33 goals in eight league games. The false No. 9 system, with Arteta playing Trossard or Havertz in attack, is the one that has propelled this Arsenal team.
Arteta is reportedly looking for a headline striker to take his project to the next level. This headline swoop would have been achieved with a deal for Napoli’s Victor Osimhen. However, Charles Watts believes Arsenal may re-consider signing Osimhen, who has a release clause of more than £111 million. The Gunners aim to strengthen areas other than attack, so even if the club has had significant conversations with the Napoli striker’s entourage, his move is unlikely.
“It will be interesting to see whether they move for Victor Osimhen,” Watts admitted to Caught Offside. “He, like Toney, is a player they like and I know that his representatives have visited Arsenal’s training ground for talks with Edu.
“Those talks took place in the summer when Arsenal eventually signed Gabriel Jesus. Jesus was always the priority that year, but Osimhen was definitely a player they viewed as a serious alternative.
“That interest will remain, but the Nigerian could prove to be too costly an option in a summer given Arsenal want to spread their budget around as they look to take the squad to the next level.”
With players like Ivan Toney reportedly available for as little as £50 million, I can understand why spending more than £100 million for Osimhen may not be appealing. And, with transfer moves for a top winger and a top midfielder on the cards, it will be interesting to see how the Gunners manoeuver the summer transfer window.
Daniel O
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Better spend £100m on Osimhen than £50m on Toney
Very very trueeeeeeeeeee.
Where is it apparently “reported” that Toney might be available for £50 mill? I have seen no such “report”!