Victor Osimhen, Viktor Gyokeres, Moise Kean, Jonathan David: Man United’s transfer bottleneck | OneFootball

Manchester United need a striker this summer. The pitiful return of the club’s current strike force last season – four Premier League goals from Rasmus Hojlund and three from Joshua Zirkzee – has left the INEOS management team in no doubt that the position is amongst their top priorities.

As luck would have it, there is no shortage of top-drawer strikers on the market this summer. Napoli’s estranged goal machine, Victor Osimhen; Ruben Amorim’s former protégé Viktor Gyokeres; Canadian free agent Jonathan David; Juventus’ Serbian powerhouse Dusan Vlahovic; Fiorentina’s Moise Kean, Eintracht Frankfurt’s classy 22-year-old, Hugo Ekitike and RB Leipzig’s talented youngster, Benjamin Sesko.

Yet as we approach July and there is just over a week until pre-season training begins, United have been unusually quiet on all fronts. The mainstream media has not reported one single bid from United for any of these players. Indeed, other than Saudi Arabian clubs, there have not been many bids for any of them from any club. Given that Liverpool, Arsenal and Juventus are all also keen to land a top notch hitman, this is a very unusual situation.

The Red Devils probably would have pulled the trigger early for Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap, but were beaten to the punch by Chelsea. The Blues may still dip back into the market again, so are another unknown factor in the situation.

United’s reticence can, in part, be explained by the fact that they need to sell players before they can buy, and to the issue of their accounting year beginning on the first of July. They will almost certainly want any incomings to arrive in the new year rather than the old one.

Even so, it seems unlikely that they would not at least try to compete for whichever of the above crop they dearly want if any of their rivals were about to pull the trigger.

United have at one stage or another been linked with all the names listed above. However, it is fair to say that Gyokeres, Ekitike and Kean have been mentioned the most in recent days.

The European transfer market often has summer windows like this when one player’s future becomes a bottleneck that holds up a raft of other transfers. But who or what is the bottleneck this summer? The answer to that is not simple, we are dealing with multiple sticking points. In fact, every one of the named strikers has issues that need to be resolved before a transfer can take place.

Victor Osimhen

There is no way Osimhen will play for Napoli again after falling out with president Aurelio de Laurentiis. With one year remaining on the player’s contract, the president is trying desperately to cash in and has a €75 million release clause in place which he is adamant must be paid. Osimhen’s wage demands are also pretty high, so the package is expensive.

Clubs know that De Laurentiis may have to soften his stance toward the end of the window or risk losing Osi for free next summer (or indeed trigger a one-year option and potentially be stuck in the same position for 12 more months.)

The €75 million release clause expires on 15th July (via Gazzetta dello Sport). Osimhen hopes that by waiting until then, De Laurentiis may be forced to negotiate a more reasonable figure, but Napoli have already hit back and threatened to ask even more, rather than less, at that stage.

The 26 year old will also be due back in training on the 17th July so all parties would ideally want resolution by then.

Key bottleneck: €75m release clause Key dates: 15th July – release clause expires

Viktor Gyokeres

Most reports claim Gyokeres only has eyes for Arsenal but the Gunners are also pursuing Sesko and to some extent are waiting to see which will be the better deal of the two.

The Swede looked to have won the race when his price was believed to be €60 million plus €10 million in bonuses, based on an agreement made between the player and the club in January. Arsenal bid just under that amount. Unfortunately, Sporting’s president reneged on the deal and is demanding €80 million. Gyokeres, due back in training on 7th July, is threatening to strike. The Gunners are now reportedly veering back toward Sesko (see below), while the player’s agent continues his war of words with president Varandas.

This complex situation could be resolved quickly if Varandas were to climb down and drop his price back to the €60m plus €10m, but it seems unlikely he will do so. If Arsenal were to pull the trigger on Sesko, he may have to, at which point United might be in with a chance of getting the 27 year old.

Key bottlenecks: Increased asking price of €80 million, Arsenal to choose between him and Sesko Key dates: 7th July – expected to return to training

Benjamin Sesko

Arsenal seem to be the front-runners in the Sesko race but RB Leipzig are demanding €80 million for him. It’s an eye-watering amount for a 22 year old with only 13 Bundesliga goals to his name last season. As far as we know, there have been no official bids but simply noises from Leipzig suggesting they are not in the mood to compromise.

Key bottlenecks: €80 million asking price, Arsenal to choose between him and Gyokeres

Jonathan David

David’s status as a free agent is in name only. With his agents demanding around €15 million fees plus a €10 million signing-on bonus for the player, there is still money needed. However, it is not a huge amount compared to some of the others.

David is currently playing for Canada in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which could run until 7th July if Canada reach the final. Only after that will he consider his options. Juventus are on pole to sign him – they have agreed his salary but want his agent to reduce his fees – however, they themselves cannot act until they get Vlahovic off their books, which is proving difficult (see below).

United’s level of interest in David is unclear. Little has been reported on it but it is possible that talks are progressing behind the scenes.

Key bottleneck: Agent fees, Juventus ability to offload Vlahovic Key dates: 7th July (or sooner) – Canada’s Gold Cup run ends.

Dusan Vlahovic

Once the golden boy in Turin, things started to turn sour between player and club around the turn of the year, when the Old Lady asked him to take a huge pay cut to renew his contract. He is currently the highest paid player in Serie A on €15 million a year net (around £300,000 per week gross).

The Serbian has refused to sign the new deal, so Juve are trying to cash in on him now rather than lose him for free in 12 months. However, his woeful form since January coupled with his high wages means nobody is keen to bite (a similar situation to the one United themselves have with Jadon Sancho). Vlahovic reportedly will wait out his contract rather than compromise, leaving Juve’s pursuit of David in limbo.

Key bottleneck: Refusal to lower salary demands.

Moise Kean

The Italian has a €52 million/£44m release clause that comes into effect on 1st July for just two weeks. United are reportedly very interested but is he their first choice? And, given the other options might not be resolved by then, will they go for the bird in the hand rather than two in the bush?

Key bottleneck: Release clause not yet active Key dates: 1st-15th July – release clause period.

Hugo Ekitike

Several reports have linked United with an interest in Ekitike, but he, too, has had a huge asking price placed on his head by Eintracht. It may be that they are prepared to negotiate this €100 million demand, but what is the true value of a 23 year old with 15 Bundesliga goals in 2024/25?

Key bottleneck: High asking price of €100m.

Who blinks first?

The first real deadline in this transfer merry-go-round is Kean’s release clause expiry of 15th July – the very same date that Osimhen’s expires. But while clubs might be waiting for Osimhen’s to expire in the hopes his price will then go down, they will know Kean’s will likely go up if he is not snapped up before that date.

Any or all of the other situations could change between now and then. But if they do not, watch carefully as the 15th approaches to see if INEOS pull the trigger.

Featured image Timothy Rogers via Getty Images

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