Manchester United have reportedly reached an agreement to sign Victor Osimhen while they are also tracking Xavi Simons, with the RB Leipzig star potentially the ideal foil for the Nigeria hitman.
United need a big summer transfer window, with Ruben Amorim’s side in danger of finishing in a humiliating 17th place in the Premier League after losing 1-0 to Wolves on Sunday.
A tentative agreement is in place to sign Osimhen at the end of the campaign, and FootballTransfers has previously revealed that Xavi Simons is also on their shortlist.
“Manchester United are also very interested in Simons. Their problem is an obvious one in that they don’t have much money to play with, certainly not the kind of money that Leipzig are looking at as a sell fee,” Duncan Castles told The Transfers Podcast.
“They will need to win the Europa League and to qualify for the Champions League to be able to afford such a deal. But he’s on a list of players that they’re looking at.”
Osimhen and Simons a dream combination
The potential hookup between Osimhen and Simons should be a mouthwatering one for Man Utd fans, though. After a couple of seasons of misery in front of goal, this is the combination to finally get the Red Devils going again.
Osimhen’s scoring prowess when given chances is clear. Across the last seven seasons, he has scored 143 goals, grabbing at least 17 strikes in six of these campaigns. In short: if he gets chances, he will score.
Simons, meanwhile, looks idea to provide the Nigeria international with these. At RB Leipzig, Lois Openda, in particular, has thrived when the Dutchman has been at the top of his game.
Last term, Openda scored 24 goals in 32 Bundesliga matches but has dipped to nine this season, during which Simons has struggled with a loss of form and injury.
Victor Osimhen and Lois Openda style comparison
Victor Osimhen
2022/2023 | Serie A (ITA)
Centre forward (2648 Minutes played)
Loïs Openda
2023/2024 | Bundesliga (DEU)
Centre forward (2726 Minutes played)
And there’s reason to believe that Osimhen can thrive in a similar way that the 25-year-old Leipzig striker has. SciSports shows that they are broadly similar in style, particular with regards to playing a role as a poacher.
Indeed, during Osimhen’s wildly successful 2022/23 campaign, his playing profile is a close match to Openda at Leipzig last season. This suggests that he can link up with Simons in a similar fashion and offer the same devastating impact in front of goal.
Of course, the pair won’t come cheap. Osimhen has a release clause at Napoli of €75 million while the type of transfer fee being talked about with Simons is in the region of €80m. That total spend of €155m is extravagant, but it’s the type of money that Man Utd need to spend to get back to where they need to be.
