Arne Slot’s reported top target is a player for whom Liverpool would almost certainly need to shatter their transfer record if they’re to sign him this summer.
According to the Daily Express, the man at the top of the head coach’s wish list is Victor Osimhen, for whom Napoli chief executive Aurelio De Laurentiis is demanding a whopping £110m fee.
The report claims that Anfield chiefs are prepared to hand the 45-year-old a sizeable war chest to sign the players that he wants in his first transfer window at the helm, and a huge chunk of that could potentially go towards the Nigerian striker, who’s apparently clamouring to leave the Serie A club.
The 25-year-old is unsurprisingly attracting plenty of interest from elsewhere, although the scale of the resources which’d be necessary to land his signature have led to talks with Paris Saint-Germain stalling (Express) and Arsenal backing out of negotiations altogether (Soccernet.ng).
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If Liverpool can somehow lure Osimhen to Anfield before the transfer deadline a month from today, it’d be the perfect way to avenge missing out on Riccardo Calafiori to Arsenal.
The Reds had been strongly linked with the Italy defender in recent weeks before he completed his move to north London, so to capture the Nigerian hitman after the Gunners backed away from him would be quite the response.
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Despite Napoli enduring a dreadful 2023/24 seasin, the 25-year-old still hit 15 goals in 25 league games, following on from the 26 that he plundered in their runaway Serie A title success in the previous campaign (Transfermarkt).
Osimhen’s track record at a high level in Europe is beyond dispute, but for Liverpool to pay the fee that his club are reportedly demanding would still require a massive leap of faith, along with an expectation for him to hit the ground running and pay back the record-breaking investment straight away.
The irony is that Darwin Nunez – the man who’s currently our most expensive player (when the add-ons from his 2022 move from Benfica are included) – would be the fall guy if the Nigerian were to arrive, with our current number 9 either having to adapt to a different position or be left out of the team altogether.
The Napoli striker would be the definition of a statement signing if the Reds bring in Slot’s dream target, although in truth it’s difficult to envisage at this moment in time.
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It would be a statement indeed but not one of intent, FSG do not have the intent to buy players for every role costing £100m each and imo buying another forward to go with the 9 possibles we already have isn’t showing anything other than how to waste money…..
Salah, Gakpo, Diaz, Nunez, Jota, Doak and Carvahlo all need game time, if we bring in a player that also wants all the games then you may as well sell 2 or 3 of the players we already have
And if we sell 2/3 of those players we will recoup a fair chunk of the £100m transfer fee.
I would prefer not to have Osimhen. He didn’t really stand out in a very poor AFCoN. Would prefer the winger who provides most of Osimhen’s ammunition at club level.
Thats alot money for him. Better buy one more quality midfielder and one attacker from the same amount