Bayern Munich’s striker watch is heating up again. After not directly addressing the position in last summer’s transfer window following Robert Lewandowski’s departure to FC Barcelona, Bayern have kicked the can down the road — and well, now here we are.
This is a bit of an older report, but full of good detail from Sky’s Florian Plettenberg, and it’s on Bayern’s interest in SSC Napoli’s Victor Osimhen. You can find the original report on sky.de.
Osimhen is slated to cost over €100M with a premium salary to match — no surprise for the man who’s tearing it up in Serie A and averaging about one goal per league game. The price is thought to be extravagant for Bayern’s blood, though Uli Hoeneß has recently left open the possibility.
Still, it would be a major spend, but the links appear to be concrete. Osimhen was even offered to Bayern last year, and “would love” a move to the German Rekordmeister — though he still harbors dreams of playing in England.
Like with Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Frankfurt’s Randal Kolo Muani, Bayern’s interest may be with an eye towards 2024 more than 2023. But also like with those players, that may be too late. Kolo Muani and Osimhen may move on before then, and Kane — whose contract will expire — may decide to re-up with Spurs. A lot hangs in the balance, and we’ll see if Bayern are really content to hesitate when the window opens.
Sky’s Didi Hamann has his own preference, as quoted in Plettenberg’s report: “That would be a no-brainer for me. Osimhen is in a different league and for me currently the best striker in Europe. He’s fast, has jumping ability, is technically adept, shoots with both feet. He would do better than Kane in the Munich team fit because he is a playing center forward and has speed.”
Meanwhile Chelsea FC, Manchester United, and Paris Saint-Germain are all said to be monitoring Osimhen’s situation. Bayern are well-stocked in their forward positions, and it’s as a result that they may miss out. For now, count the prolific Napoli forward as another of the nines under monitoring by the Bayern brass.