The Africa Cup of Nations schedule is a major reason why Manchester United did not try to sign Victor Osimhen, according to the club's former first-team coach Benni McCarthy. Nigeria striker Osimhen attracted attention from Europe's elite sides after scoring 26 league goals in 2022-23 to help fire Napoli to a first Italian title in 33 years. But the biennial staging of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), which regularly falls in the middle of the European season, meant United switched to other targets despite Osimhen initially being "at the top of the list". "If you spend £100m on a player, you don't want to lose him for Afcon," McCarthy told Newsday on the BBC World Service. Literally [a] big part was because of the Afcon and Victor Osimhen's name got scratched off - not a player of interest because of that."

Source: BBC February 25, 2026 15:41 UTC