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Former Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku could play a pivotal role in determining whether the club is able to sign Victor Osimhen this summer.
Last summer, Man United were in a desperate search for a new striker, particularly after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure from Old Trafford.
While the club ultimately settled on signing young Atalanta prodigy Rasmus Hojlund, he certainly wasn’t the only promising forward on United’s radar. Another target that United set their sights on was Napoli goal machine Victor Osimhen.
Scoring a whopping 31 goals in 39 appearances in all competitions, Osimhen played a crucial role in leading his team to last season’s Serie A title; their first in over 30 years.
This season, he has remained clinical in front of goal, bagging 14 goals in 22 Serie A matches.
In January, Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis revealed that his star striker is on his way out of the club this summer. While the striker signed a new deal with the club, it appears as if this was done just to protect his market value.
With Osimhen seemingly ready to depart Napoli, United appear to have reignited their interest in the player, with The Peoples Person relaying last month that United are ready to move for him so as to relieve the heavy goalscoring burden faced by Rasmus Hojlund.
Now, a former United striker appears to be the deciding factor in whether Napoli will indeed allow a deal with United to ultimately advance.
Calcio Mercato reported that Napoli are considering Romelu Lukaku as a replacement for Osimhen this summer.
With Lukaku currently on loan at Roma, the report claims that upon his return to parent club Chelsea, Napoli could make a move for the Belgian. Still, this would require the Italians to send Osimhen to Stamford Bridge, with the Premier League club looking to fill his boots in attack.
As a result, Lukaku could very well cause his former club to miss out on signing Osimhen should a swap deal with Chelsea be reached.
Still, even if United miss out on Osimhen, one couldn’t help but wonder whether this outcome would actually be for the best given the Nigerian’s €130 million release clause which would cause a major dent in the club’s budget.
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