Andy Cole has identified Victor Osimhen as the striker Manchester United should look to sign in the wake of Wout Weghorst’s arrival at the club during the January transfer window.
Weghorst has joined the Red Devils on loan for the rest of the season from Burnley, with Erik ten Hag keen to boost his attacking options. But United will likely be back in the market for at least one forward in the summer window.
And Cole, who won five Premier League titles during six years at Old Trafford, believes the perfect man to fill that role is Osimhen, who has scored 13 goals to fire Napoli to the top of the Serie A table.
“I think like everybody else, I was a bit surprised. He had a very good World Cup, scoring a couple of goals against Argentina, and he’s done well at Besiktas, but it’s come from nowhere,” Cole told Betway.
“I think the interesting thing is what the manager is looking for because Weghorst is 6’6”, which is different to the usual profile of United strikers. If you think back to Ruud van Nistelrooy, myself, we were off-the-shoulder strikers.
“(Anthony) Martial has been the same more recently. It’s interesting that they’ve brought in somebody like this now because I’d thought he’d want a different profile in the summer. You want to be getting crosses into Weghorst, rather than getting him away in behind.
“I think Victor Osimhen at Napoli is very good and could be the long-term natural fit. The question is whether Napoli would be prepared to let him go. He’s rangy, got a good first touch, scores goals and is a decent size as well. I watched him play against Liverpool and he was more than prepared to link the play and then run in behind.”
So far this season, Osimhen is enjoying his best run for Napoli since joining for a record fee in 2020 and there could be more to come for the player before the end of the season.
Osimhen has netted 14 goals in 18 appearances for Napoli this season.
In just 14 Serie A appearances this season, Osimhen has scored 13 Serie A goals, surpassing the total number of goals he scored in the league in his first season, (10 goals in 24 appearances), while he is one goal shy off the total number of league goals he scored last season (14 goals in 27 appearances).
This article was most recently revised and updated 2 years ago
