You can always trust Victor Osimhen to be at the centre of attention. As inevitable as he is in the box as a striker, he always finds a way to take the headlines.
After being at the centre of one of the running sagas from last summer, he has started this one in a similar fashion. Most expected him to leave Galatasaray but after slamming in 26 goals in Turkey, there was a hope that he would be back in the Champions League to demonstrate his talents.
Last week, all of that began to vanish. Osimhen was in talks to leave Napoli (his parent club) and join Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia. They have money spare after failing to secure Mohamed Salah, and so set their sights on Osimhen.
Not bound by finances in the same way that many across Europe are - both by domestic rules and the sheer availability of cash - Al Hilal were offering to pay Osimhen's release clause of almost £65million and wages of a reported £25million per season. That is not the sort of package that anyone in the Premier League was feasibly going to match.
It is why Chelsea did not get him last summer and it is why Arsenal, despite links, have not got him to the Emirates Stadium either. Osimhen's total cost is simply enormous and there have been suggestions that he is asking for tens of thousands of pounds per game that he is fit, not just played in; an effective availability bonus.
For one of the most unique strikers around, there is serious baggage with Osimhen. He carries with him the sort of wage demands that only clubs in the Middle East can realistically afford.
But Osimhen will not be an Al Hilal player next season. He will not join them for the Club World Cup, as was the initial plan. The deadline to have him registered for the group stage was Tuesday, June 10 at 7pm. If he is going to be in America (and it is beyond unlikely that he is there) then it will have to be via the second registration window ahead of the knockout rounds at the end of the month and into July.
Galatasaray are licking their lips, hopeful of getting the 26-year-old on a permanent transfer. This never felt plausible last year when they picked him up to start with.
Osimhen, at that stage, had run out of options. Napoli and Antonio Conte had torched the relationship whilst transfer windows across Europe closed. Galatasaray swooped in late on to get a deal over the line. They used Osimhen to help win the league but must have expected him to go elsewhere this summer.
That hasn't happened and he is once again sat there on the market waiting. In a time of inflated striker transfer prices and risks being taken at every junction, Osimhen is a guaranteed goal machine.
He is not much of one for linkup play but he is destructive and lethal. He creates chances for himself and finishes unrelentingly. It bodes the question, why aren't Arsenal interested?
They have their eyes on Benjamin Sesko, sure. Viktor Gyokeres is the other main No.9 target but has seemingly slipped down to being a firm second choice.
If Arsenal don't want a 27-year-old for £60million on big money without an elite season in a top five league then maybe they will be more open to someone six months younger with a title winning campaign in Italy. Osimhen may have struggled to replicate those numbers in 2023/24 at Napoli but there are mitigating factors.
(Image: Getty Images)
He struggled with injury more and had to deal with the core of Luciano Spalletti's history-making team being gradually torn apart. Osimhen still scored 15 times with three assists in 25 Serie A games, which is hardly a bad record.
Even before he went to dominating Europe that year, he had scored 18 goals in 32 games (with six assists) the season before and managed 10 from just 1,500 minutes in his debut year in Naples. He is a goalscorer no matter where he goes.
Galatsaray found that out. Osimhen scored in the Europa League, he finished with variety domestically. He showed all of the qualities of a top striker.
Arsenal, meanwhile, might have to pay upwards of £92million for Sesko, who is still incredibly raw. He is not a thoroughbred shooter and will take time to adapt to the physicality and lack of space in Premier League matches.
The same could be said about Osimhen, but this is a guy with a game built for English football. Sesko is still a growing force, whereas Osimhen is the finished article.
Gyokeres is meant to be the same but the quality of the Portuguese league, defending, and goalkeeping all raise bigger worries over how he might translate that over to Arsenal. Osimhen is sharper to take shots in the box, requiring fewer touches and less time to get his efforts away.
He is an exceptional mover as well as presence in the air. Osimhen manufactures opportunities that others cannot. The big thing for Arsenal is the money.
He is a player looking for one big contract. It would be a move away from the system they have in place, and would be a shift for Andrea Berta to make at this stage.
The groundwork for Sesko has been put in. Efforts to understand RB Leipzig and his own demands have been made. Even Gyokeres has been on the club's radar for a while.
Osimhen, conversely, has always been more of a pipe dream. But in a world of transfer market opportunities, few come as big or as good as Osimhen.
If there is a player that is worth altering the transfer model for then it is someone like this. Arsenal are after a killer and someone to get them over the line. Osimhen can be that player. He would not be a project and mere competition or support for Kai Havertz, he would demand to be the focal point of this team.
Osimhen strikes fear into opposition and represents a genuine threat. He would turn the atmosphere around Arsenal in an instant. These sorts of players cost massive money and are a bit of a risk. The decision for Arsenal is, do they look to sign the risky Osimhen or the relatively unproven Sesko?