Manchester United won’t stress about missing out on Arsenal-bound striker Viktor Gyokeres if they manage to sign Victor Osimhen.
That’s the view of club legend Rio Ferdinand, who has called upon the Napoli man to be the star arrival at Old Trafford this summer.
talkSPORT understands Sporting CP marksman Gyokeres is closing in on a move to Arsenal, although an agreement hasn’t been reached yet.
The 27-year-old has agreed terms with the Gunners on a five-year deal, and his camp are confident he will move to north London.
United have held long-term interest in former Coventry City man, who worked with head coach Ruben Amorim at Sporting.
Speaking to tennis star Nick Kyrgios for talkSPORT, Ferdinand was asked to name his top target for United to sign this summer amid Gyokeres’ pending move the Emirates.
“I’m like a broken record. If anyone listens to my podcast, I’ve said Osimhen for a while now,” the former centre-back said.
“He’s a centre-forward, he’s experienced, he knows how to score goals at the top level.
“I’ve seen today that Galatasaray have put a £50million bid in.
“I mean, £50m to get a top-class striker, one of the top strikers in the world, is absolute peanuts in today’s market.
“I’ll be disappointed if he goes to Galatasaray for that type of money when Man United are crying out for a No.”
When Ferdinand was asked if he’s disappointed about failing to sign Gyokeres, he insisted: “I’ll be disappointed to miss out on Gyokeres if we don’t get a No.9 in.
“But if we got Osimhen, then I wouldn’t be too concerned.”
talkSPORT understands that Galatasaray are pushing to sign Osimhen and Napoli may agree to a fee below his €75m [£65m] clause.
The Nigerian international has already agreed terms with the Turkish giants, where he spent the 2024/25 season on loan.
Osimhen scored 37 goals and assisted eight others in 41 outings, and won the Super Lig and Turkish Cup.
Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal are also keen on the 26-year-old.
United have already made a forward signing in Matheus Cunha from Wolves for £62.5m.
Brentford winger Bryan Mbeumo is believed to have approved a move this summer, although there is no breakthrough as of yet.
However, Ferdinand is choosing to remain patient over the deal, as he remarked: “Listen, Rome wasn’t built in a day, was it?
“People can get frustrated, but there’s still a lot of time left in the window.
“Obviously you’d like to get your business done early, which would be great, but I don’t think everything pans out like that and you’ve got to be extremely lucky for that to happen.
“We’ve got Cunha in, it seems like the club are adamant that they want to get Mbeumo, but they want to get the deal done at the right price that suits the club, that’s what’s part of negotiations and getting that done.
“I think ideally, you’d like to see stuff done in the background and you just announce a signing, but it’s not been that way for Manchester United.
“I think if we do get him, he’s the type of player that I’ve been screaming about for probably over a year now, in terms of type of player, who’s mobile, who’s dynamic, aggressive and can score goals, and is going to add value to the team.
“So I’m hopeful that that gets done, but I would still like to see a centre forward signed at the football club.”
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who is a free agent after leaving Everton, is also understood to be an option for United this summer.
Outgoings are also expected with Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia keen to leave.
