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Soccer News of Wednesday, 8 February 2023

Source: soccernet.ng

Manchester United's next top striker: Who is more injury-prone, Osimhen or Kane?

Napoli frontman, Osimhen Napoli frontman, Osimhen

Since the departure of the renowned Portuguese striker, Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United has increased interest in acquiring a striker.

Numerous sources have suggested that the finest candidates for the Manchester club’s number 9 position are Tottenham striker Harry Kane and Napoli forward Victor Osimhen.

Since Ronaldo left Manchester United, Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen, has been touted in several reports as the potential replacement for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner at Manchester United.

However, the Nigerian forward has merited the pursuit of the Red Devils, who must have the goalscorer to reinforce their attack.

The Parthenopean forward’s 16 goals and 3 assists in 17 domestic league games have made a significant difference in the title race for the Gli Azzurri.

Harry Kane, an Englishman, has unquestionably shattered and raised the bar at Spurs by making scoring goals appear simple and scoring 200 Premier League goals in total for the Spurs.

While there is discussion between the two blazing hot attackers, the Telegraph reported that Erik ten Hag is a massive admirer of the Nigerian player but may look elsewhere due to his injuries.

According to Telegraph, the Dutch manager may choose for Kane, who can score goals while also being injury-resistant.

Who is more vulnerable to injury?Although Kane began his career at Leyton Orient in League One in the 2010–11 season, before moving on to Millwall, Norwich City, and eventually Tottenham in the 2012–13 campaign, it might be argued that the Nigerian international started his career more recently.

< The soon-to-be 30-year-old striker has a long history of ankle injuries, including ones he sustained in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021. Whenever he picks one up, it always keeps him out of play for more than 20 days, with the exception of 20–2021, when he was only sidelined for two consecutive games.

The former Milwal player has, however, been injured since the 2013–2014 season and has missed 67 Tottenham matches. Osimhen, however, has a terrible injury history since joining Napoli in September 2020, missing a total of 45 games as of this writing.

He dislocated his shoulder playing for Nigeria against Sierra Leone in November 2020 and later injured the back of his head when playing for Atalanta in Serie A, temporarily becoming unconscious and missing three games as a result. Many of these injuries have been inevitable severe ones.

The worst head collision involved Inter defender Milan Skriniar in November 2021, which resulted in several facial fractures and the need for metal plaques and 18 screws to keep everything together. As a result, Osimhen was sidelined as a result for approximately three months.

This ignores the two occasions he acquired COVID-19 while on vacation in Nigeria, as well as a few muscle injuries.

Given this, both players would not be the ideal choice if the Dutchman wants a striker who is less prone to injuries. However, Osimhen’s young age and poor injury history could well be stronger reasons to pick the Three Lions captain.