Newcastle linked as mystery club bids £75m to land Liverpool, Man Utd target

Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea target Victor Osimhen is reportedly the subject of a shock transfer bid from an unnamed club.

According to French outlet Telefoot, Lille have received an offer of £75million including bonuses for their 21-year-old striker, who has also been linked with Tottenham and Inter Milan.

However, another report on Sunday claims that the mystery bidder could be Newcastle, who are expected to be very active in the summer transfer market if their Saudi takeover is allowed to go through.

At this stage, Liverpool are still said to be in the driving seat to sign the powerful forward, who has scored 18 times in his 38 appearances for Lille this season.

The Nigerian international only joined the Ligue 1 outfit from Belgian club Charleroi last July and still has four years remaining on his contract – hence the large fee cited for anyone trying to sign him.

Chelsea are also in the running, as they still have great relations with the French side after the Blues snapped up Eden Hazard in 2011 and have also registered an interest in midfielder Boubakary Soumare.

While United made Osimhen a priority this summer after struggling without a true No.9 following the sale of Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan last summer.

But it is Liverpool who are said to have made contact with Lille over a move for their frontman.

Transfer guru Duncan Castles told the Transfer Window podcast: “The information I have is that Liverpool have been in contact with Lille about their Nigeria centre-forward Victor Osimhen.

 

 

“He’s attracting attention from a lot of clubs and has been fulfilling the potential he showed when he won the Golden Boot at the World Youth Cup a few years ago, scoring 10 goals in that particular tournament in Chile.

“They are open to selling him this summer but only if the market provides them with the right price.

“And they’re very conscious that this may well not be the transfer window to sell a player of his talent. That will factor into their thinking.

“They believe they’ve got a player who is going to turn into one of the top centre-forwards in European football.”

However, if Newcastle are the mystery club to have made a move for Osimhen, then their potential financial clout could blow the other Premier League suitors out of the water and hand Steve Bruce a real attacking threat next season.