Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand has called on the club to chase Napoli's Victor Osimhen to strengthen their attack.

The Red Devils have already bolstered their forward line, which scored a modest 44 league goals last season, ranking fifth lowest in the top flight, by signing Wolves star Matheus Cunha. However, it's well known that they are also after a No.9.

Ruben Amorim's side have been linked for some time with Sporting CP's Viktor Gyokeres, who was once under the Portuguese manager's tutelage in Lisbon. But the Swede is now in advanced negotiations over a move to rivals Arsenal, who United host on the opening weekend of the 2025/26 Premier League season.

Ferdinand – a six-time Premier League winner with a record of 455 appearances for United – insists his former employers must pursue another forward, particularly Osimhen, in light of the bid Galatasaray have launched, reports the Mirror.

"I'm like a broken record. If anyone listens to my podcast, I've said Osimhen for a while now," Ferdinand told talkSPORT when asked about his top United target. "He's a centre-forward, he's experienced, he knows how to score goals at the top level.

"I've seen today [Monday] that Galatasaray have put a £50m bid in. I mean, £50m to get a top-class striker, one of the top strikers in the world, is absolute peanuts in today's market. I'll be disappointed if he goes to Galatasaray for that type of money when United are crying out for a No.9."

Sky Italy report that Napoli have rebuffed an initial offer around £50m for their marquee striker, who was loaned out to the Turkish side the previous year.

Meanwhile, United are also aiming to bolster their wide options with Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo, who scored 20 goals last season at the top level. understands United had submitted a revised bid exceeding £60million. The Reds' initial offer of £55m did not tempt the Bees, who are said to want a figure in the region of £63m, and their second approach was also turned down.

While reports suggested that an agreement was nearing completion and that the player from Cameroon showed preference for a switch to Old Trafford, no further progress on the deal has been made, with a third bid not yet forthcoming.

Still, Ferdinand remains confident as he made clear: "Listen, Rome wasn't built in a day, was it? People can get frustrated, but there's still a lot of time left in the window.

"Obviously, you'd like to get your business done early, which would be great, but I don't think everything pans out like that and you've got to be extremely lucky for that to happen.

"We've secured Cunha, and the club seems resolved to recruit Mbeumo, but they're keen to conclude the transaction at a price that's favourable for the club. That's all part of the negotiation process.

"I think ideally, you'd like to see stuff done in the background and you just announce a signing, but it's not been that way. I think if we do get him, he's the type of player that I've been screaming about for probably over a year now, in terms of type of player, who's mobile, who's dynamic, aggressive.

"He can score goals, and is going to add value to the team. So I'm hopeful that that gets done, but I would still like to see a centre forward signed at the football club."