Victor Osimhen

redcucumber

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Any time I've seen him his hold up play has been excellent. He's not exactly Kane when it comes to dropping deep and spraying passes around, but when balls are fired up to him they stick more often than they would for other strikers.

I like Oshimen a lot but we have Kane as an option as well so I'm pretty relaxed about the striker situation. Either is good for me.
You don't need your CF to be particularly gifted in the build-up to dominate possession high in the opposition third. After all, he won't be the one building play. He just needs to be proficient enough at hold up play and linking with others.

It's not an accident that Napoli themselves are the most possession-dominant side in their league, have the most tackles in the final third (even while making the 6th fewest tackles overall), have the most touches in the final third, etc etc. You can also look at ETH's previous physicality-first strikers, who weren't exactly master technicians themselves.

What Osimhen can't do that someone like Kane can to a very high level is actively drop out of the CF position into deeper positions to create for others by spraying the ball around. But that's not something our current team particularly needs from its centre-forward given what we've mostly lacked this season is threat in the box. If we signed Kane we'd need him to stop dropping deep in the way he has in some recent seasons at Spurs.

Last season at Ajax Haller had the 3rd fewest passes and 6th fewest touches per 90min out of a squad of 30 players. Even for touches in the attacking third he was only 15th. That puts into context how often a CF in that sort of set-up is actually involved in general play relative to the rest of the team.
Thanks both, much appreciated. My fear was that in the PL he'd have less time on the ball and therefore his (supposed) deficiencies on the ball would get exposed and our attacks and build up could potentially breakdown before they have chance to develop. I might have misinterpreted the extent people are talking down his ability on the ball. I wasn't aware that Napoli play possession focused football (I only watch Serie A highlights) so it's very comforting to know that he can excel in that sort of set-up. His age and current trajectory suggest he's the ideal target. Somewhat promising that there were murmurings of the Napoli president being happy to allow him to leave if they win the Scudetto. Let's wait and see...
 

sullydnl

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Genuinely think this is one of those situations where having CL football would make a big difference.
 

DJ_21

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Imagine this guy in our front line with rashford! Another one who’s on firee
 

ForeverRed1

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Can we not just go in with a 220-250mil offer for osimhen and kvara? They are brilliant and brilliant together. Genuinely excellent partnership.
 

cyberman

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Hes definitely on the move this summer. His transfer is being investigated in the same way Juve are.
it was 100 percent cooked as well
 

avgp_1

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Another couple of goals to add to his fantastic goalscoring season
 

Rolaholic

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Look at this leap


His nose for the ball in and around the box is terrific.

14 goals in his last 12

 
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JustinC00

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Not even gonna entertain it, he's either going to Madrid or Boehley will pay 150m
 

Blood Mage

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He's starting to reach Haaland levels. I think there will be too much competition for his signature and we usually miss out when that's the case.
 

Idxomer

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Is his general level of involvement as little as Haaland‘s? Maybe we should be looking for a different type of striker than an elite poacher.
Yes and probably even worse than Haaland in that aspect but he works harder defensively.
 

Il_Cecchino

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It's too easy to score in Serie A. The level of the league is low. If you have the physique you are dominant. As was Lukaku. Never buy in serie A a striker dominant thanks his physique (Lukaku, Osimhen, Vlahovic ecc.). In serie A you must muy tecnichal players.
 

Il_Cecchino

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The true top player of Napoli is not Osimhen. The top player is Kvaratskhelia.
 

Walters_19_MuFc

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I don't know if he'd be ten Hag's number 1 choice.

Despite being injured a lot, we've seen how much ten Hag talks up Martial, and has clearly said we play better with him in the team.

To me, that has a lot to do with a Martial's back to goal play - similar to Weghorst.

If we can get a player who has that plus goals (no one better than Kane) then I think that's who ten Hag would prefer.

Let's say we have, Kane, Martial and Rashford as our forward options, then we have two players in Kane and Martial who has fantastic link play and someone in Rashford, who, like Osimhen, is more of a running in behind striker.
 

Chief123

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Genuinely think this is one of those situations where having CL football would make a big difference.
I’m not sure it’s that significant. The likes of Mudryk and Enzo have just joined them knowing full well they probably won’t have UCL football next season.
 

SATA

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Is he a one season wonder like Darwin Nunez or has he been doing it for a few years now for Napoli? He’s going to cost a lot of money and for that, i would rather get a proven quality like Kane although he’ll be older
 

croadyman

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Thanks both, much appreciated. My fear was that in the PL he'd have less time on the ball and therefore his (supposed) deficiencies on the ball would get exposed and our attacks and build up could potentially breakdown before they have chance to develop. I might have misinterpreted the extent people are talking down his ability on the ball. I wasn't aware that Napoli play possession focused football (I only watch Serie A highlights) so it's very comforting to know that he can excel in that sort of set-up. His age and current trajectory suggest he's the ideal target. Somewhat promising that there were murmurings of the Napoli president being happy to allow him to leave if they win the Scudetto. Let's wait and see...
Yeah and confident Erik can bring even more out of his game if he's willing to take that opportunity to join us which is still 50/50
 

Pintu

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It's too easy to score in Serie A. The level of the league is low. If you have the physique you are dominant. As was Lukaku. Never buy in serie A a striker dominant thanks his physique (Lukaku, Osimhen, Vlahovic ecc.). In serie A you must muy tecnichal players.
The belief that Lukaku tore the Serie A apart the way Halaand is doing the PL is a pure myth, entertained by some bias…

Using Lukaku as a stick to beat Osimhen’s Serie A performances is not fair. Lukaku scored 24 non penalty goals in the PL… His best tally in Italy, being serviced by the best team of that league was 18 non penalty goals..





It is more relevant to compare respective qualities and what we need. Osimhen is a pressing machine, nothing like Lukaku and he is very good on the air (again nothing like Lukaku)…
 

VorZakone

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The true top player of Napoli is not Osimhen. The top player is Kvaratskhelia.
I don't know if Osimhen was fully fit in past seasons (think he had several injuries) but it's interesting to see how well he and Kvara link up. Osimhen's scoring record this season is so much better than previous seasons.
 

Ayoba

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No need to waste our time going after him, Chelsea will offer 150m and get him.
 

Donut

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He will be the first one billion transfer, Boehly will pay it.
 

Conor

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How can Chelsea buy him for 100m+ after everything they've spent, surely it has to stop at some point, in terms of FFP?