Ex-Manchester United captain laments Osimhen slip as Galatasaray close

Ex-England and Manchester United centre-back, Rio Ferdinand, has hit back at his former side for not submitting an offer for Super Eagles and Napoli attacker, Victor James Osimhen, Soccernet.ng reports.

The 2008 UEFA Champions League winner has been very vocal about United's need to sign a proven goalscorer, such as Osimhen, solely because the younger strikers in the team, like Rasmus Hojlund and Chido Obi-Martin, can have someone to learn from.

However, Ruben Amorim's side are not in communication with Osimhen. The 26-year-old has agreed personal terms with Galatasaray, and an agreement with Napoli is all that's delaying a permanent return to Istanbul for the 2023 CAF Player of the Year.

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Ferdinand has made it pretty clear that he'd prefer Osimhen over Gyokeres, and considering the release clause in the Nigerian's contract, the ex-United captain has been left stunned as to why the Red Devils aren't submitting a transfer offer for the Napoli forward.

“I'm like a broken record. If anyone listens to my podcast, I've said Osimhen for a while now,” the former Leeds defender said in an interview with TalkSPORT.

“He's a centre-forward, he's experienced, he knows how to score goals at the top level. I've seen today that Galatasaray have put a £50m bid in.

“I mean, £50m to get a top-class striker, one of the top strikers in the world, is absolute peanuts in today's market.

“I'll be disappointed if he goes to Galatasaray for that type of money when Man United are crying out for a striker.

“I'll be disappointed to miss out on Gyokeres if we don't get a No.9 in, but if we got Osimhen, then I wouldn't be too concerned.”

In the meantime, United have signed Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers for £62.5m, and are in the process of wrapping up a deal for Bryan Mbeumo.

Brentford are not budging easily, but Ferdinand has urged fans of the club to be patient as they continue their rebuild under Ruben Amorim.

“Listen, Rome wasn't built in a day, was it?

“Obviously, you'd like to get your business done early, which would be great, but I don't think everything pans out like that, and you've got to be extremely lucky for that to happen.

“We've got Cunha in, it seems like the club are adamant that they want to get Mbeumo, but they want to get the deal done at the right price that suits the club, that's what's part of negotiations and getting that done.

“I think ideally, you'd like to see stuff done in the background and you just announce a signing, but it's not been that way for Manchester United,” the former England International concluded.

The Red Devils have resumed pre-season training ahead of the 2025/2026 season. Manchester United will not be participating in any European tournament next season.

Galatasaray will approach Napoli again for Victor Osimehn with new proposal after €60m turned down.

The agreement with Osimhen is done until June 2028 but Napoli want more than €60m and also with better payment terms.

Talks continue. pic.twitter.com/JaR6NLBNYb

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 7, 2025

Napoli turned down Galatasaray's initial €60m offer, but Okan Buruk's side are preparing another offer for the Super Eagles striker.

The Turkish Champions have a deal in place with Osimhen until June 2028.