According to Gazzetta dello Sport and Mirror Football, there is a chance that a deal between the Italian club and United could be done in terms of this striker swap.
Mirror Football are saying that "Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen might go to Manchester United as part of a deal for Napoli to sign Rasmus Hojlund", via Transfer News Live.
Gazzetta dello Sport have given a price that MUFC will want for their Danish striker with United reportedly asking for £50m. "Napoli will try to secure a deal to sign Rasmus Hojlund this summer, but cannot afford to meet Manchester United's asking price of £50m", via Transfer News Live.
The 22-year-old has been struggling for form at United this season which has caused all of these rumors and reports that he could (and should?) be on the move.
Fans have become frustrated with his lack of goals and that his overall performances have dipped quite a lot from last season. There was even a report a couple of months ago that Hojlund could be on trial until the end of the campaign as manager Ruben Amorim is growing impatient with him.
In saying that, Amorim has had nothing but encouragement for the young forward as more often than not whenever he sepaks about the Dane, especially in recent times, the Portuguese is very positive about him. After his performance against Leicester in which Hojlund scored his first goal in 21 games, the United boss said that "He's doing the right things. He's helping the team. He's fighting for every ball. I think he deserved that goal more than anybody."
This will give Hojlund a lot more confidence moving forward.
His last two performances against the Foxes and Real Sociedad in the second leg of the Europa League round of 16, saw United's number 9 register a goal and assist after having not done either in a very long time.
One saw that his confidence was shot prior to these two games but thanks to these last two displays, I'm sure he and his manager will be hoping that this is a point where he will kick on.
Hojlund has been talking about what he does off the field and how he doesn't spend time much time on socials while also mentioning how "Cristiano [Ronaldo] is everything to me" in a recent interview ahead of Denmark taking on Portugal in the international break. This game will see five Reds come up against each other: Hojlund, Dorgu and Eriksen and Bruno and Dalot.
This season has seen the centre-forward score 8 goals and register 2 assists in 39 matches.
A record like that for a United striker regardless of the team's overall play style is simply not the level required of one to wear that famous number 9 shirt.
Somebody like Osimhen though, yeah, he will be more worthy.
I'm not actually sure why Napoli let him go on loan to Galatasaray in the first place. Surely they needed someone like him in their team?
Nonetheless, the Nigerian does now ply his trade in Turkey where he has amassed 26 goals and 5 assists in just 30 matches for the Turkish giants.
He has been one of the best strikers across Europe over the past three seasons since that 22/23 campaign where he helped Napoli to win their first Scudetto in three decades. Since then, Osimhen has 74 goals and 13 assists in 101 games. He scores and/or assists pretty much 80% of the time.
Not bad at all.
The 26-year-old's contract with Napoli is also up at the end of the season meaning he would be able to leave for free. This will absolutely mean that there will be many suitors for his signature making it a potentially hard deal for United to complete.
Given his age and experience though, he will be the perfect striker for what the team needs at the moment because of Hojlund's lack of goals. United this season in the league have netted a total of just 37 goals in 29 matches. A less than savory return.
Striker is a position that we've needed for a while with the hopes that Hojlund could be him. That obviously hasn't happened (yet) and we're at a point now where no more risks can be taken.
Sitting 13th in the PL and with all our hopes on the Europa League, United need to bring in players that are ready to go now, not in a few years time. Osimhen is in his prime and could be that striker we need whilst also giving Hojlund that senior striker to learn from, if the Dane is willing to play second fiddle.
That is probably where everything lies: if Hojlund is ok with being a backup, then maybe it gives us a better chance to bring in Osimhen. If not, then it maybe more difficult.
However, David Ornstein has said that he "expects Osimhen to leave Napoli" with United being linked with him yet he is unsure as to "how realistic it is for Manchester United to let go of Rasmus Hojlund." He believes that MUFC would want to build the team around the Danish forward but he is one of those players "who will generate funds. Therefore, I think it's more likely that United will generate funds from other players."
Unless Hojlund starts scoring like an Osimhen, it is a no brainer for United to try and sign the Nigerian.
As much as I do like our Danish striker and hope that he can still be our main man up top, even I have to admit that if you can get Osimhen (or any other top striker as we're linked to many, it's a deal we have to do.
Hojlund may also not want to be that backup striker as well. He will want to play as much football as possible which will not happen should a new and better number 9 come in. This could cause him to think otherwise about his United career.
£50m tho? That's kind of a lot for a player who isn't performing and one that we paid just over £70m for. Is this current version of Hojlund worth just £20m less than that? I mean, if we can pull it off then great but I can't see Napoli (or anyone else for that matter) paying that price for Hojlund.
Should United be looking to do this deal or are you willing to give the Dane another chance?
Background Image: Victor Osimhen linked with move to Man Utd in swap deal for Rasmus Hojlund | Image credit: Getty Images via Goal