Benni McCarthy noted that he played a role in striker recruitment at Man United and believed Osimhen would have been a perfect fit. for the club.
By Kehinde Okeowo
Former South Africa striker Benni McCarthy has revealed that Manchester United ended their pursuit of Super Eagles forward Victor Osimhen because of his imminent participation in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The ex-Bafana Bafana player, who was a first-team coach at Old Trafford under former manager Erik ten Hag at the time, made this known while speaking on Newsday on the BBC World Service.
Osimhen emerged as one of the top strikers in Europe after scoring 26 goals to help Napoli win their first Serie A title in 33 years during the 2022/23 season—a feat that fascinated Manchester United.
However, instead of signing the Nigerian international, the Red Devils opted to pay £72m for the services of Atalanta striker Rasmus Højlund in August 2023.
Speaking on the decision to snub the Nigerian, McCarthy claimed he played a role in the recruitment of strikers at Old Trafford and thought Osimhen would “fit perfectly” at United.
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He added, however, that despite being keen to sign the forward, the club’s management was wary of the mid-season disruption an AFCON campaign would cause to their frontline.
Speaking during the interview, he said: “If you spend £100m on a player, you don’t want to lose him for AFCON.
“I think he would have been very successful there. But it [AFCON] was a big stumbling block.
“Losing him for so many important matches, the team suffers not having the main striker there.
“So the decision was made. Literally [a] big part was because of the AFCON and Victor Osimhen’s name got scratched off – not a player of interest because of that.”
