Look around Europe’s big clubs, and you’ll see a dearth of center-forwards. Real Madrid converted a left-winger to number nine last season (Kylian Mbappé). Arsenal used an attacking midfielder (Kai Havertz) until he got injured and another attacking midfielder (Mikel Merino).
Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League after turning a wide forward into a centre-forward (Ousmane Dembélé).
Barcelona does have a central striker (Robert Lewandowski), but he turns 37 this summer.
Liverpool also have one (Darwin Núñez), but he’s usually on the bench. They’re trying to get rid of him, and, in any case, they often start with a wide forward (Luis Díaz) in that role.
Bayern Munich (Harry Kane) and Chelsea (Nico Jackson) have one, but neither club has anyone credible to back them up.
If free markets are supposed to address shortages, something’s wrong with the “invisible hand” here.
Oddly, the same names always turn up in transfer rumours — mostly Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and, of course, Sporting’s ubiquitous Viktor Gyökeres — when other options exist. Part of it is how intermediaries (the brokers who grease the transfer market wheels) operate.
Some like to talk (a lot), and some do not unless the deal is done. It’s not hard to figure out which category the guys flogging Sesko and Gyökeres belong to.
But two centre-forwards are, quite clearly, available for transfer: Juventus‘ Dusan Vlahovic and Napoli‘s Victor Osimhen, who spent last year on loan at Galatasaray.
Both are rare talents and at 25 and 26, respectively, they have plenty of prime years ahead of them.
Yet both are trapped in somewhat unusual contractual situations that complicate a move, even though it would be in everyone’s best interest.
Osimhen was just 21 when he left Lille for Napoli in July of 2020 in a deal — one that would later be investigated — worth €70m ($80m) with up to another €10m ($11.4m) in bonuses. (Roughly the same as Vlahovic, in a weird cosmic coincidence.)
He scored 46 goals in his first 100 appearances in his first three years, and then another 48 in 71 in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Along the way, he carried Nigeria (for whom he’s already the second leading all-time scorer) to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations and Napoli to their first title since the Maradona Era. Osimhen was also named Serie A Player of the Year and African Footballer of the Year.
So, how did he end up at Galatasaray last season? Well, Napoli planned to move him in the summer of 2024 since he had just two years left on his contract and had not agreed to an extension.
To emphasise the point, they signed his replacement (Romelu Lukaku) and made it clear that since he didn’t sign an extension, he’d have to find another club.
When that didn’t happen, he did have suitors, but none would meet Napoli’s valuation at the time. By the time the transfer window shut, their game of chicken backfired.
Lucky for them (and Osimhen), the Turkish window was still open, so they worked out an agreement where they extended his contract for another year (through 2027) to preserve his transfer value and sent him to Galatasaray, where he could get playing time.
Osimhen was key to Galatasaray winning the domestic Double, scoring 37 goals in 41 appearances in all competitions.
It was a campaign that showed he’s not lost his scoring touch, but his game goes well beyond goals. He’s fast, powerful, hard-working, and charismatic. Most Napoli fans would happily take him back in place of Lukaku in a heartbeat — coach Antonio Conte, too, if you gave him truth serum.