Napoli forward, Victor Osimhen according to reports have refused a transfer to Manchester United on basis that his fellow Nigerian brother, Odion Ighalo plays for the English side.
The decision of Osimhen’s future was up for a heated debate during his last days at Lille this summer. Several top-notch clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham were very interested and keen on acquiring the player. Many English teams are keen on bolstering and strengthening their attacking ranks before the end of the transfer window and Osimhen seemed to be a fit for these teams.
But it was the Italian team, Napoli who won the favour of the Nigerian, collecting his signature for about £54 million. Osimhen’s brother, Andrew later revealed why his brother chooses to move on to Napoli. He said, “It is very true that Manchester United wanted Victor but he told me something like he had too much respect for Odion Ighalo to be competing for shirts with his senior colleague”.
According to Andrew, “My brother holds Ighalo in high esteem and he just didn’t see himself going to Old Trafford to battle for a striking role with the highest goal scorer at the 2019 AFCON in Egypt”.
Odion Ighalo made his first Cup appearance for Nigeria in 2015 whilst he was playing for Watford in the English Premier League. Ighalo has risen since then to become one of the Nigerian team’s finest forwards. He was the top scorer of the AFCON 2019, netting 16 goals out of 35 matches. Ighalo joined Manchester United in January, stepping in as a substitute for Marcus Rashford who had gone down with an injury. In his time, he played beautifully enough to have earned himself a place on the Manchester United Team Sheet. Despite this, he has struggled to get some game time following the Coronavirus Lockdown period.
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