Arsenal report: €100m striker to sign for Gunners ahead of Manchester United
Arsenal target Victor Osimhen has told Mikel Arteta that he'd rather play for him than Manchester United – thanks to one huge reason
Arsenal are in the driving seat ahead of Manchester United to sign their top-choice centre-forward this summer.
The Gunners have been linked with hitman Victor Osimhen since his Lille days, with the Nigerian striker having impressed the Emirates hierarchy over the years. With Mikel Arteta seeking a new striker this summer, the Serie A star's associative play has impressed him.
Napoli have slapped a whopping €100 million price tag on their talismanic figure's head, however, to ward off interest from both Arsenal and Manchester United. The player himself has reportedly told north London that he's prepared to pick red and white over the Red Devils, though.
Italian news outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport have reported that Osimhen has told Arsenal that he's willing to join them and rebuff an approach from United, thanks to the project that's underway under Arteta.
Champions League football would be a must for the striker to consider upping sticks from southern Italy, although with four games left to play of the Premier League football, Arsenal are in a much better position to offer that than the Red Devils.
Arteta is weighing up a number of strikers right now, with another star of Italian football this season, Tammy Abraham, under consideration.
Osimhen has an impressive return this season for Napoli, having delivered 23 goals and assists combined in 29 matches. He won't come cheap, however, with the club having smashed their transfer record to land him in 2020, paying almost £70m.
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The 23-year-old is valued at around £54m by Transfermarkt.
More Arsenal stories
The rumour mill is going into overdrive over who Arsenal will bring in to fill the centre-forward spot in the team next season. Tammy Abraham has been heavily linked since last summer with those whispers refusing to go away, Ivan Toney has entered the frame as an option, while "the new Thierry Henry" has been touted.
Gabriel Jesus is a big rumour doing the rounds right now, as is Darwin Nunez, who Manchester United are reportedly closer to signing. One Brazilian wonderkid is also apparently in talks.
Elsewhere at the Emirates, Mikel Arteta has spoken openly over his doubts taking the Gunners job and Vagner Love has chatted exclusively to FFT about the move to Arsenal under Wenger that very nearly happened for him in the noughties.
Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.