Erik ten Hag's hopes of landing a star striker for Manchester United have been dealt a blow with Napoli after a £150m fee for target Victor Osimhen, it has been claimed.
United boss Ten Hag has landed a number of his targets, earning the backing he wanted to bring Antony and Lisandro Martinez to Old Trafford after working with the pair at Ajax. The Dutchman was also given the funds to land Casemiro, but a marquee name up front is considered by some to be the missing piece of the jigsaw.
Nigeria striker Osimhen ticks a lot of boxes amid an impressive season in Italy. The price tag could yet be an issue, though, potentially piling further misery on Ten Hag after other attacking setbacks.
Man Utd spent to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford in 2021, and the Portugal international was one of the options available to Ten Hag ahead of his first campaign. Since Ronaldo was allowed to leave by mutual agreement, though, the only new striker has been loan signing Wout Weghorst.
It would be difficult for United to land Osimhen, if reports from Il Mattino (via The Mail) are to be believed. The £150m asking price for the former Lille frontman is significantly higher than the £100m Spurs are said to want for fellow Man Utd target Harry Kane, though Kane is five years older.
Osimhen leads the Serie A goalscoring charts with 21 from 23 appearances, and also scored twice against Eintracht Frankfurt in the last 16 of the Champions League. Chelsea are also said to be interested in the 24-year-old, who cost €70m (£61.7m) from Lille in 2020.
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Ten Hag has already seen two prospective attacking targets decide to move elsewhere since he took over from Ralf Rangnick at Old Trafford. Dutch striker Cody Gakpo moved to Liverpool in January, while Benjamin Sesko - who was also linked during Rangnick's tenure - will join RB Leipzig in the summer.
Meanwhile, former Man Utd star Park Ji-sung has urged Ten Hag to move for another of Napoli's key men. South Korea international Kim Min-jae has impressed since arriving from Fenerbahce as a replacement for Kalidou Koulibaly after the former captain moved to Chelsea, and his compatriot Park is a fan.
“Extraordinary, what a talent," Park told Tuttomercatoweb. "He took the right step by going to play in Turkey and showed himself ready to take a step forward. He didn’t come directly to Italy but step by step, so he grew and there is no doubt that he is doing extraordinary things, as a technical leader and personality in Naples.”
