Manchester United target Victor Osimhen ‘does tick a lot of the boxes’ that the club are looking for in a striker this summer, according to journalist Dean Jones.

The highly-rated 23-year-old has been linked with a handful of Premier League clubs in recent weeks after an impressive campaign with Italian giants Napoli.

What is the latest news involving Osimhen?

A recent report by Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport (via the Manchester Evening News) claimed Osimhen had chosen Arsenal over United as his next team as they look set to qualify for the Champions League.

However, the Nigeria international’s potential arrival at the Emirates Stadium is far from guaranteed, especially as his eye-watering valuation may price the Gunners out of a move.

According to Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness), the Red Devils have now ‘initiated contact’ with Napoli to find out the price of their star forward.

It’s claimed that Luciano Spalletti’s charges have quoted United a negotiable figure of €110 million (£94m) for Osimhen, who only arrived at the club from Lille two years ago.

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And interim manager Ralf Rangnick recently revealed that he tried to persuade the United hierarchy to bring a new striker to the club in January.

“There were a few: (Luis) Díaz who is now at Liverpool, (Julian) Álvarez who will be at Man City in the summer, (Dusan) Vlahovic who at the time was with Fiorentina,” said the German tactician.

“So those are just three of them that come across my mind now. The answer was no and that was it.”

What has Jones said about Osimhen?

He told GiveMeSport: “You can tell from Rangnick’s comments the other day that United are going to be in that market for someone that's in their early twenties, has got the pedigree to kick on but is not quite the finished article yet.

“And obviously, Osimhen does tick a lot of the boxes; he's played European football too.”

Would Osimhen be a good signing?

Osimhen became the most expensive African player of all time when Napoli splashed out €81.3m (£69.4m) to prise him away from Lille in July 2020.

Since then, the 6 foot 1 ace has registered 28 goals and nine assists in 61 appearances for the Azzurri, establishing himself as one of the deadliest finishes in Serie A.

United will surely face fierce competition for his signature, but he could be the ideal candidate to spearhead Erik ten Hag’s era at Old Trafford.