With Cristiano Ronaldo out the door and Cody Gakpo on his way to Liverpool, Manchester United will be in the market for a striker in the January transfer window.
PSV recently announced that they had agreed a deal to sell Gakpo to Liverpool in January. It’s been no secret that Gakpo was a target for Manchester United, with Fabrizio Romano confirming their interest to CaughtOffside via his Substack column.
Now, according to transfer journalist Ekrem Konur, Napoli striker Victor Osimhen is a prime candidate for Manchester United to replace Cristiano Ronaldo.
? Napoli's Victor Osimhen is the prime candidate for the striker position after losing out on Gakpo and United are vigilant to the Nigerian star.
?? ?#MUFC ? #ForzaNapoliSempre https://t.co/yajnlkxoVI pic.twitter.com/6poj8K3fdD— Ekrem KONUR (@Ekremkonur) December 27, 2022
Osimhen may not be easily attainable considering how much of a key player he is for Napoli, but Manchester United have shown over the years how attractive they are to players around Europe, no matter how disappointing they’ve been on the pitch.
However, missing out on Gakpo could be a bit of a blessing in disguise for Manchester United. Gakpo’s best performances have come when playing on the left-hand side of attack, but United’s priority has to be a central striker.
Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, and Anthony Elanga are all capable of playing on the left-hand side, whereas they have a lack of centre-forwards at the club.