Top journalist Jonathan Johnson has speculated that Napoli ace Victor Osimhen is not at the top of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)’s wishlist for the summer. He believes the Parisians may be more interested in top playmakers such as Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes.
PSG Failed To Live Up To Expectations In The UEFA Champions League
Since the Qatari takeover, PSG have spared no expense to make a UEFA Champions League-winning team. Unfortunately, the ‘Old Big Ears’ has remained as elusive as ever.
This season, PSG had an excellent opportunity to reach the final but failed to overcome Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals, suffering a 2-0 aggregate defeat. Les Parisiens struggled to win battles in the middle of the park, which took a toll on their build-up play. On the occasions they did, there was no one to build plays, making it easy for Dortmund to deal with repetitive passes to Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele on either flank.
Jonathan Johnson Believes Victor Osimhen Is Not A Necessity For Ligue 1 Winners
Mbappe, 25, will leave the club as a free agent at the end of the season, and according to reports, PSG want Osimhen to fill his shoes at the Parc des Princes. Johnson, however, does not think the Parisians necessarily need a center-forward, with him claiming the Parisians require a playmaker more.
In his Daily Briefing column for CaughtOffside, Johnson said:
“Victor Osimhen to PSG is another story making the headlines at the moment, and while I don’t know if he’d be their absolute priority target, he certainly is a name that they’ve looked at, along with Benjamin Sesko.
“With Mbappe leaving, there’s a few players PSG have looked at to strengthen in attack, but I think at the same time, as we’ve seen from PSG in the Champions League this season, a new striker is not necessarily a priority. PSG’s main problems are not necessarily through the middle – Goncalo Ramos has shown enough form (despite not being able to find the target against Borussia Dortmund) that he could be the man to be PSG’s number 9.”
He added:
“A bigger issue is some of the build-up play. In midfield, I think, and most people are in agreement, one other midfielder to go alongside Vitinha and Warren Zaire-Emery probably makes sense. There’s been long-standing links with Bernardo Silva and I think that kind of profile could be interesting, because even though this relatively young PSG squad was capable of going far in the Champions League this season, a little bit more experience could still be very useful.
“So, overall I think names like Bernardo Silva and Bruno Guimaraes, that kind of profile, could come up higher on PSG’s list than someone like Osimhen. Silva and Guimaraes are also two players who know the French league quite well, so while I wouldn’t completely rule PSG out of the race for Osimhen at this moment in time, I wouldn’t necessarily put him at the front of the queue either. I think PSG will feel they have other needs in other positions ahead of the number 9 position.”
Silva, who sees his contract expire next June, is also on Barcelona’s radar. Guimaraes, meanwhile, has been linked with a move to Manchester City.
