Arsenal hope to sign Victor Osimhen on one condition after talks are held

Arsenal are hoping to sign Victor Osimhen from Galatasaray this summer but he must take a pay cut to engineer a move, according to reports.

The Gunners beat Coventry City 3-0 in a convincing opening day win over the newly promoted side on Friday evening as the champions kicked off the new Premier League season.

After winning the Premier League title last season, Arsenal are looking to bring in quality over quantity in the summer transfer window.

Bruno Guimaraes and Christos Tzolis have arrived from Newcastle United and Club Brugge respectively to replace Christian Norgaard and Leandro Trossard.

And now Arsenal want to keep that high quality of new signing up before the transfer deadline on September 1 with prolific striker Osimhen high up their list of additions.

There were rumours on Friday that Atletico Madrid had agreed to sell Julian Alvarez to Arsenal but the Argentina international has no interest in a move back to the Premier League, where he used to play for Manchester City.

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Confirming his version on Friday, transfer insider Fabrizio Romano posted on X: ‘Arsenal made contact with Atlético Madrid to discuss Julián Álvarez deal conditions.

‘Direct meeting took place in London with Atléti director Mateu Alemany.

‘Price currently too high + Julián never opened doors to England so far as wanted to join Barça… but #AFC tried.’

When asked after the Coventry match whether he wants to make any more attacking signings, Arteta replied: “I’m really happy with the squad that we have, and the main focus is to improve the players we already have , as we already have a lot of good things.”

Arsenal won’t pay over the odds for Osimhen

Galatasaray striker Osimhen is high up on Arsenal’s list of reinforcements and Foot Mercato have revealed that the Gunners are keen but won’t pay over the odds in wages to the Nigeria international.

The report adds: ‘According to our sources, Arsenal has no intention of making an unreasonable offer regarding his salary. As a reminder, Osimhen, who is already in excellent form and scored a decisive brace in last weekend’s Super Lig restart, currently earns over €20 million net per year at Galatasaray . This is a salary that no European club can currently afford. Despite this barrier, the reigning English champions remain highly interested and hope to sign the former Lille striker if he lowers his demands.

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‘As you will have understood, with just a few days left in the summer transfer window, the ball is now in Osimhen’s court: either the 27-year-old striker decides to stay in Turkey with comfortable earnings and the possibility of playing in the Champions League, or he takes on a new challenge in the Premier League – a league he doesn’t yet know – with the last Champions League finalist and the opportunity to add a little more to his trophy cabinet.’

Before the start of the season, Chelsea legend Joe Cole insisted that Arsenal should sign Osimhen if they want to make sure they retain the Premier League title.

Cole gave his prediction on the Dressing Room podcast: “I’ve been flipping and I’m going to put an asterisk on this.

“I think Man City win the title if Arsenal don’t bring in a No. 9 because I still think that will be a problem for them.

“So I’m going to go Man City to win the league ahead of Arsenal but if they bring in Victor Osimhen, I would flip it back. But as it stands I’m going for Man City.”

Former Premier League striker Carlton Cole added: “Arsenal have the best squad and if they get Victor Osimhen in they’re going to be flying, he could be top goalscorer if he comes.”