The brother of Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has confirmed that Manchester United were very interested in signing the Nigerian international before he made the move to Italy.

After protracted negotiations, the 21-year-old sealed a €70m (£65m) switch from Lille to Serie A at the start of this month, but Andrew Osimhen claims it could have been a different story if international teammate Odion Ighalo wasn’t already at Old Trafford:

“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. 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.”

Osimhen had been linked with United over the past year, and his profile does certainly fit what manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would have been looking for in a forward. He has pace and the ability to play right across the front three.

Whether the Red Devils were that serious about buying the player, though, it is up for debate, with the Manchester club having been fully focused on trying to sign Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund for most of the summer.