Arsenal have struck a huge blow to Man Utd and Chelsea’s summer transfer plans after striking an ‘agreement’ with Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, according to reports.
Man Utd and Chelsea have been criticised for their lack of goals this season with the two clubs having scored 31 and 38 Premier League goals respectively.
The Red Devils have started finding the back of the net more often in recent weeks with Rasmus Hojlund’s form taking a turn in the right direction but they are still expected to pursue a new centre-forward in the summer.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have spent over £1billion since a Todd Boehly-led consortium took over the club in May 2022 but are yet to find a prolific striker.
Arsenal are not finding scoring as much of an issue, although they are the lowest scorers in the Premier League’s top five, but Mikel Arteta is also looking to bring in a new striker in the summer.
A number of pundits and former players have doubted Arsenal’s ability to win the Premier League title this season with just Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah as their striker options.
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And now Spanish publication Nacional claims that Osimhen is the ‘main candidate’ at Arsenal to appease their thirst for a new striker with the Nigeria international ‘determined to leave Napoli in the next transfer period’.
After signing a contract extension recently at Napoli, Osimhen now has a release clause worth €130m (£112m) in his deal and Arsenal is now his ‘most likely destination’.
Man Utd and Chelsea ‘had also thought’ about signing the Napoli striker but it is claimed that Arteta has ‘a verbal agreement for him to join Arsenal soon’.
Former CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs recently claimed Chelsea could be at the “front of the queue” to sign Osimhen but that the three Premier League clubs won’t necessarily have “giant budgets” to spend in the summer.
Jacobs said: “There’s a very strong chance that Chelsea are front of the queue as things currently stand. So expect Chelsea to be there and I think Arsenal will be in the mix as well, looking at both Osimhen and Ivan Toney.
“We can’t rule out Manchester United but with Jim Ratcliffe coming in, it depends on where they finish and if they get Champions League football: they’re not necessarily going to have these giant budgets to spend.”
