Revealed: Manchester United’s incredible reasons for not moving for Osimhen

ESPN has revealed two reasons why Manchester United did not move to sign Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen after scouting the Nigerian in the 2022/23 season.

The international media group says concerns were shared about whether the quality of the Serie A masked the Napoli star’s true ability following the Nigerian’s incredible 2022/23 season when he scored 26 goals in 32 Serie A games to inspire Napoli to their first Scudetto in 33 years.

ESPN claimed that Man United cited Romelu Lukaku’s incredible form after leaving for Inter Milan in a £74m move as a reason to be sceptical.

Lukaku scored 78 goals and provided 23 assists in 132 games in Italy, and this earned him a £97.5m return to Chelsea but could only score 15 goals in 44 appearances.

The Red Devils failed to take into consideration that the Belgian scored 42 times in 96 appearances when he was at Old Trafford.

The ESPN report adds that ‘United were also unconvinced by Osimhen’s ability to hold the ball up and combine with his fellow forwards in attacking moves.

‘But the reported doubts about Osimhen’s prolific Serie A exploits make little sense, considering Hojlund and Zirkzee both came from the same league.’

Hojlund, only 20 at the time of his move to Man United scored just 10 goals in 34 games for Atalanta. He was Man United’s top scorer last season with 16 goals and his presence was largely uninspiring.

Zirkzee was named the Serie A’s Young Player of last season albeit he only scored 14 goals in two seasons at Bologna.

Hojlund was United’s top goalscorer in his maiden campaign with 16 strikes but suffered lengthy droughts and isn’t near the finished article.