Fabrizio Romano has spoken exclusively to CaughtOffside about links between Arsenal and Napoli striker Victor Osimhen as he delivered the latest transfer news to his Daily Briefing column.
Osimhen is one of the most sought-after names on the market at the moment after some exciting displays for Napoli, most notably as he fired them to the title in Serie A last season.
It seems clear that the prolific Nigeria international could be a hit in the Premier League, but it doesn’t seem likely that anything will be happening on that front any time soon, as Romano insists that Napoli don’t want to sell such an important player in the middle of the season.
It does seem, however, that Arsenal have plans to sign a top striker as a priority in 2024, so Romano didn’t exactly deny the links with Osimhen, who may perhaps be one worth watching in terms of links with the Gunners in the months ahead.
Gabriel Jesus is not the most consistently prolific striker, despite his qualities, while Eddie Nketiah has only done a decent job as a backup, so there should be room in Mikel Arteta’s squad for a world class forward like Osimhen.
Discussing these stories, Romano said: “I’m aware there have been some reports linking Arsenal with Victor Osimhen, and this follows some outlets claiming the Napoli striker’s agent held talks with the Gunners around a year ago.
“We know that Arsenal and Chelsea are both keeping an eye on strikers for 2024, so it’s normal to see these links. But it’s important to reiterate that it’s very difficult to consider those links for January because Napoli insist they don’t want to sell him in the middle of the season. For the summer, anything can happen but it isn’t being decided now for sure.”