GOAL’s Arsenal correspondent Charles Watts has questioned whether the club can afford to sign Napoli striker Victor Osimhen.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire crunched the numbers off the back of another dramatic Premier League finish with Arsenal resigned to fifth behind city rivals Tottenham.
Despite the setback, Maguire has claimed that the Gunners are in line to take home £151.6m for their output this season which will go a long way in further enhancing Mikel Arteta’s squad.
However, with the emergence of reports linking the Emirates Stadium outfit with a move for Osimhen and a huge bid of £76m turned down, Watts has cast doubt over a move for the Nigerian striker hailed as “phenomenal” by former Cagliari and Watford manager Walter Mazzarri.
Speaking on his YouTube channel he said:
“They are in no position where they really have to sell as far as I’m aware. They’re in the Champions League, which is going to you know, boost their finances even more and they only signed Osimhen in 2020.
“I think it was about 68 million pounds which is about 80 million euros on him and so if Arsenal we’re going to do a deal for him, they’re going to have to pay in excess of that sort of money and you know, you’re pushing towards almost three figures then and you know, will Arsenal do that in a season when they haven’t qualified for the Champions League, I don’t know but it is something they’re exploring and he is a striker who is on their list of targets.”
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With Gabriel Jesus’ potential switch also up in the air as the Reds ponder the £55m asking price from Manchester City, Edu and his board are having to rummage through their list and Osimhen does appear as an outlier in terms of what they can afford.
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The 23-year-old has scored 28 goals in 62 games in Naples and has been involved in a goal in just over every 100 minutes this season in Serie A, scoring 14 times and providing five assists in 27 appearances.
He also netted four goals in five Europa League matches this term which is of course where Arsenal will be operating next season but with a £54m market value, the Gunners would be wise to stick within that territory, especially with the manager looking to strengthen in other areas of the pitch as well.