Newcastle United’s head of recruitment Steve Nickson was aware four years ago of the talent Napoli striker Victor Osimhen possesses, according to a report.
The Express report that the Magpies have joined Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in the race to sign the Nigerian hotshot.
The 23-year-old has been in red-hot form this season with 15 goals from 25 games and Osimhen is spearheading Napoli’s Serie A title challenge.
However, the Toon Army have already reportedly been snubbed by the former Lille forward, and the club’s chairman Aurelio de Laurentiis turned down an offer of £100million in the January transfer window from PIF.
But, according to Chronicle Live, Nickson is believed to have ‘ran the rule’ over Osimhen before, back when he began to make a name for himself in Europe during a loan spell with Belgian side Charleroi from Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg.
During his season-long loan in Belgium four seasons ago, Osimhen scored 20 goals from 36 games, and that prompted a move to Ligue 1 side Lille.
After one season with the reigning Ligue 1 champions which brought 18 goals, Napoli were convinced of his star-studded quality and splashed out €81million to secure his services.
Osimhen has scored 25 times in 55 appearances for Napoli and his goalscoring prowess has brought a four-way Premier League battle to sign one of the most coveted strikers in European football.
With a contract until June 2025, PIF really will have to splash the cash to sign the African star, but with the rest of the chasing pack potentially baulking at lodging a £100m+ bid, Newcastle’s status as the world’s richest club could more than work to our advantage in pulling this deal off.
Victor Osimhen is box office and if he does win Serie A with Napoli this season he may feel he’s already conquered Italy, and he may already be attracted to the lure of the Premier League and Tyneside in particular.
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