Much like Aston Villa seem to enjoy mopping up Newcastle’s discarded transfer targerts, it seems Newcastle have a thing for swooping in and beating Arsenal to their shopping list.
The latest player at the centre of an Gunners and Magpies tug-of-war is Nigerian striker, Victor Osimhen who is currently plying his trade at Napoli.
CalcioMercato (via HITC) claim that Arsenal have dropped out of the race for the forward, but Newcastle remain very interested and have been tracking him for some time. Bayern Munich are also said to be interested as they look to replace outgoing Robert Lewandowski. However, Osimhen is said to be keen on a move to the Premier League which swings the pendulum back in Newcastle’s favour.
Osimhen was in superb form in Italy last season, scoring 18 goals in 32 appearances in all competitions, a big step up from his return of 10 goals in 30 appearances in the previous campaign. This rise in form has seen Napoli slap a hefty price tag on the striker with the club looking for anywehre between £85m – £95m.
That would obviously put a huge dent in the Magpies’ transfer budget, whatever it may be, and will be a huge jump towards the FFP limit. On the flip side, signing someone of Osimhen’s quality would be a huge statement by the club, and would certainly back up their claims that there will be a push for European qualification next season.