Update: |Rio Ferdinand makes Victor Osimhen to Man United transfer demand as one player told to leave News

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was speaking following the 0-0 draw with Manchester City on Sunday afternoon

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has advised Alejandro Garnacho to leave the club if it means Victor Osimhen moving in the opposite direction from Napoli.

The Reds are heading into the summer transfer window knowing they need to make wholesale changes to their squad in order to compete next season. One of the big areas that United need to improve is their attack with goals having been hard to come by throughout the campaign.

Osimhen, who has spent the season on loan at Galatasaray after a transfer move fell through last summer, is determined to leave Napoli at the end of the campaign. The Reds have been credited with interest but there are concerns that they will not be in a financial position to be able to meet the demands of the Serie A club.

However, Napoli were interested in Garnacho in January but had a bid rejected from United. Speaking on his podcast, Ferdinand explained why now could be a good time for the Argentine to move while also bagging a much-needed striker for the Reds.

“If I am Man United, Victor Osimhen comes to Man United next year,” he explained. “I am making it happen and the caveat to that is that if I am advising Garnacho, I am telling him to go to Napoli.

“I would want him to play left wing at Napoli and for Osimhen to come the other way. Because Garnacho, if we didn’t have Amorim as the manager and we had a manager who plays with wingers, I am not selling Garnacho. I like him, I love him.

“He may not be in his best form now but I love Garnacho – his nerve, his balls – and I love that he has a confidence and an arrogance that he wants to be the best. But the system that the manager wants to play does not suit him.

“If I am him or an advisor in his team, I am saying: ‘Guys, thank you but I want to go now,’ I would say that if I am him. If I am an advisor I want him to be in the best environment for him.

“If I am him, I get out of there because I think this system is only going to hold him back.” Ineos are understood to favour the model of signing younger players with high potential who can strengthen the team as they improve.

According to ESPN, Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap is United’s top target over Osimhen but Ferdinand explained why the Reds should be turning their focus back to the Nigerian. “But the big point is that we need Osimhen, we need him,” he concluded.

“We need experience, we need someone who knows how to score, we need someone who can show these young strikers at Man United how to do it and what is on the line when you need to deliver. I want someone who knows their way around a football pitch at the elite level and knows how to score at the elite level consistently.

“Osimhen has done that. I want here and now. Yes, Osimhen has not played in the Premier League but I don’t care. I think he scores wherever he goes.”