Surprise English Premier League leaders Arsenal said to have backed out of race to sign Osimhen

SURPRISE English Premier League leaders Arsenal may have abandoned their quest to sign Nigerian goal scoring machine Victor Osimhen after a recent report omitted the club's name from a list of four sides that are likely to bid for him this summer.

Red-hot Osimhen,  who simply cannot stop scoring at the moment, is expected to become the joint fifth most expensive player ever as several English clubs, including the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United are said to be lining up €120m bids for him in the summer. Osimhen, 24, has scored 19 goals in Italy's Serie A for his club Napoli in 20 appearances this season, making the subject of a lot of transfer speculation.

Arsenal were once reported to be among the clubs looking at the striker but a report on online sports portal Fichajes.net, has just listed three clubs in the race for Osimhen's signature and the Gunners are not among them. According to the Spanish outlet, the teams in the race for Osimhen this summer are now Chelsea, Manchester United and Atletico Madrid.

Its report read: "They have Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah and can recover Folarin Balogun at the end of this season, so it does not make so much sense to target Osimhen. The Nigerian would go straight into Arsenal's starting XI, which could affect the dressing room because the likes of Nketiah and Balogun would hardly play.

"However, he is better than them and the club could offload both youngsters and replace them with the former Lille man in their group. Napoli has insisted he is not for sale unless for a considerable fee. Can Arsenal afford a record-breaking price now?"

Upfront, Arsenal have several problems with Gabriel Jesus out injured and Nketiah deemed not to be good enough. Nigeria-eligible striker Balogun is currently out on loan to French side Reims, where he has hit a rich vein of form, prompting suggestions that he may return to The Emirates at the end of the season and claim a starting place in the team.