Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has urged his former club to sign Victor Osimhen instead of Viktor Gyokeres.
He recently shared that the Nigerian striker is the right solution to MUFC’s lack of firepower up front.
Speaking during an interview with Mirror Sport, Ferdinand disclosed that Manchester United clearly needs a centre-forward with experience, and he would choose Osimhen ahead of Gyokeres mainly for that reason.
According to him, the Nigerian forward has done more than enough to prove himself in multiple leagues already, hence why he prefers him over Sporting CP’s striker, Viktor Gyokeres.
Ferdinand maintained that while everyone is currently talking about Gyokeres’ exploits in front of goal, the Swede only just started proving his worth in Portugal, unlike Osimhen, who has been doing it for years.
“I think Gyokeres, everyone’s talking about him. Again, I think if I’m looking at the market now and I had to pick him or Osimhen, I’d probably pick Osimhen because of that experience.
And he’s shown he’s done it in multiple leagues now. And he’s done it internationally as well. I think he’s a top-class number nine who, again, the young players will be able to learn from. I’m not saying that Gyokeres would fail. I’m just saying that if I had a preference, I would go there,” he said.
Rio further noted that MUFC has already tried and failed with inexperienced strikers like Hojlund and Zirkzee, stressing that the club cannot afford to make more of such mistakes this summer.
He concluded by saying that every good team has a reliable striker in front of goal, and Osimhen can be that guy for the Red Devils.
“[Man United need] a centre-forward with experience. That’s it. I think United can go and get a lot of players and get loads of stuff. But I think it’s been evident that Hojlund came in for huge money and hasn’t hit the ground running, has struggled really. Zirkzee hasn’t done much better than him, really.
So, I think you need someone in all the good teams you see. They normally have at least one of the attacking players, normally the number nine. And you go, actually, yeah, I can pin my hat on him. I can rely on him.
And I think Hojlund’s lack of experience has been a big factor. So, a striker, I don’t want any striker. I think I’ve said it on my podcast many times. I think a striker with experience, knows his right way around the football field, who the young ones they’ve invested in, like Hojlund and Zirkzee and Chido [Obi] can learn from,” he added.
