Manchester United and Chelsea are both planning to move for Napoli striker Victor Osimhen in the summer, with bids of around £107m likely, according to reports in Italy.
The Nigerian forward has been in fabulous form this season and continued his impressive run on Sunday by scoring twice in a 3-0 Serie A win at Spezia.
Napoli are enjoying a stunning season, currently 13 points clear of Inter Milan at the top of the Serie A table and Osimhen has been a big part of that success, with 16 goals in 17 league appearances.
The striker has been a regular on the scoresheet since moving from Lille in 2020 and is attracting attention from bigger clubs across Europe.
Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport report that Napoli are expecting bids of €120m (£107m) from Manchester United and Chelsea in the summer transfer window.
There may well be interest in Osimhen from elsewhere as well, with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid also touted in the report as potential suitors.
If any Premier League clubs do fork out £107m for the striker then it would break the British transfer record which Chelsea just set by spending £105m on midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Benfica.
Speaking about his star striker recently, Napoli boss Luciano Spalletti said: ‘He really has got a cannon for a foot. He has physical strength, accepts the challenge, tracks back to help, is good in the air. He is the complete package.’
He also said of the forward: ‘Osimhen is such a great striker. I am stunned by the unexpressed potential he has and excited to see what he’ll do in future.’
Man Utd’s David De Gea says team will find it ‘tough’ after Casemiro’s red card
Casemiro grabs Will Hughes by the throat (Picture: Getty)
David De Gea says it will be ‘tough’ to cope without Casemiro after taking inspiration from Jose Mourinho in giving his thoughts on the Manchester United midfielder’s red card.
Bruno Fernandes’ penalty and a Marcus Rashford strike gave United a 13th successive home win in all competitions when Crystal Palace came to town.
But Casemiro’s sending-off after a VAR review for putting his hands around Will Hughes’ throat during a melee between both teams sparked a frantic final 20 minutes which saw Jeffrey Schlupp pull a goal back.
‘It’s a great run [we’re on],’ goalkeeper De Gea said. ‘We improve a lot from last season.
‘Of course it means a lot because the game was under control, then in one action we lost one big player and it was tough.
‘But we fight and it feels great to have won the game.’
Casemiro is shown the red card by referee Andre Marriner (Picture: Shutterstock)
De Gea called it a ‘massive, massive three points’ for a team that will now have to do without Casemiro for the three matches.
The 30-year-old’s red card led boss Erik ten Hag to bemoan the inconsistency of VAR decision-making and his goalkeeper to tweet a clip of former United boss Mourinho saying, ‘If I speak I am in big trouble’.
Asked about the sending-off, De Gea said: ‘I am like in the tweet – I prefer not to talk because if I talk I’m in trouble. I don’t want to say anything on that.’
Brazilian Casemiro will now miss the double-header against Leeds and the home game with Leicester on February 19 as a result of the suspension.
Source: metro.co.uk
