Can Arsenal afford Victor Osimhen who “spoke with Wenger”?

The Nigerian international moved from LOSC Lille to Napoli for a fee in the region of €75.00m in 2020

The Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen, has sparked much interest from top European clubs following his excellent run of form for his Italian side.

The Super Eagles player, who chatted with Arsène Wenger about joining Arsenal in 2017, is now one of the Gunners’ targets as they look to enhance their 2023–24 roster.

But, the Parthenopeans are doing all their power to block any transaction involving the 24-year-old leaving Diego Maradona Stadium.

By doing this, Neapolitan president Aurelio De Laurentiis has confirmed what has already been said, that the attacker is not for sale. They have placed a 150 million euro price tag on the player to deter potential buyers further.

Osimhen, who previously discussed his transfer with the former manager of Arsenal, admitted he decided against it since it was not the best move for him then.

“I spoke with Arsène Wenger, and he wanted me to come to Arsenal, but it was not the best option at the time,” he said.

Arsenal, though, who might take home the English Premier League title while still needing a striker to make an impact up front, could perhaps be the best choice for him at this moment.

But if Arsenal can afford the asking price from Napoli to woo him away from the Diego Maradona stadium in the face of other suitors is still a significant issue.

Can Arsenal meet Napoli’s asking price for Osimhen?

The North London club is renowned for spending little money during the transfer window; instead, they aim to acquire a player for a modest cost, nurture him, and then sell him for a bigger sum.

They paid €3.20 million to buy Cesc Fabregas from the Barcelona U-16 squad in 2003, pocketing close to €30.00 million from the transfer and then sold him for €34.00 million in 2011.

However, they have not acquired a player for a sum close to €100,000,000, with Nicolas Pepe being their record signing and costing €80,000,000.

This means that investing more than twice as much as their previous record cost to recruit Nigerian player Osimhen in the forthcoming transfer window may be a major task for the English team.