Newcastle United target Victor Osimhen bagged another two goals last night in the Champions League prompting Ally McCoist to gush to TalkSPORT’s Alan Brazil about the striker.
Osimhen is putting away goals like they’re going out of fashion this season and now has 23 goals in 28 games this season landing him on the radar of several top Premier League clubs including Newcastle.
If Newcastle, or indeed any other club, are to try to land Osimhen this summer it’s likely to cost them around £130million which could drop Newcastle down the pecking order as they navigate their way around Financial Fair Play rules.
McCoist likens to Osimhen to Drogba
As high as that price may be, if you listen to what Ally McCoist had to say on TalkSPORT about the Nigerian striker, it may still sound like a bargain: “I’ve been raving about this fella for a long, long time. Victor Osimhen. 24 years of age, plays for Napoli. He’s the real deal. I don’t normally stick my neck out, he’s the nearest I’ve seen to [Didier] Drogba for a long, long time. He’s physical, he’s quick, he’s aggressive. Best header I’ve seen in five years.”
Manchester United and, of course, Chelsea are said to be interested in taking Osimhen away from Italy to the Premier League as both are in desperate need of a 20-goal-a-season striker.
If Newcastle were willing to take the FFP risk and go for Osimhen, I believe the reward would outweigh the risk. Comparisons to Drogba aren’t thrown around lightly and if Newcastle could bag themselves a striker of that quality, they’d soon find themselves competing for titles and tearing up the Champions League.
Big risk = big reward, but is still too soon?
The only issue, again, is that dreaded FFP. £130million plus wages and bonuses would eat into what Newcastle have left to play with in order to strengthen the other areas of the team that need addressing. The club are working on plenty of new sponsorship deals and are constantly working on ways to generate revenue, all of which will help ease the FFP burden, but a move for Osimhen might be seen as a step too far right now.
Fingers crossed Napoli manage to keep hold of him for another season and Newcastle can come back in summer 2024 and scoop him up as part of our Champions League challenging side.