PSG Aren’t Interested in Osimhen – Should They Sign a Striker?

Ed

I have been following French Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) closely for several years, and before the end of the summer transfer deadline day in August 2024, I read several reports about PSG making it clear that they were not interested in signing 25-year-old Nigerian international footballer Victor Osimhen from Italian Serie A side Napoli.

Osimhen has since made the shock move to Turkish Super Lig side Galatasaray. That made me wonder who PSG might be interested in signing to bolster their front line in the upcoming January 2025 transfer window.

Now that Victor Osimhen is out of the picture, which striker could PSG sign?

I’ve searched as many websites as possible to try and find any rumors about which striker PSG could sign in the upcoming January 2025 transfer window after they missed out on the chance to bring Osimhen to the club before the summer transfer window deadline closed. I can’t find any reliable information.

There was much hype about who they might sign, but all I can say is that PSG had one of the most chaotic summer transfer windows ever. We will just have to wait and see what transpires over the coming months, as no strikers seem to fit the bill.

Their current forwards are Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Gonçalo Ramos, and Randal Kolo Muani. Other stars who also play in this role include Marco Asensio, Lee Kang-In, and Ibrahim Mbaye.

Most of these strikers, I would say, are fairly consistent. They also have plenty of goal-scoring talent in midfield, which is why I feel that some of their fans won’t panic too much, despite failing to secure a new striker after losing Kylian Mbappe to Spanish La Liga side Real Madrid.

For example, midfielders Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz, and Danilo Pereira can all score goals and, just as importantly, create goals.

Can PSG win the league without a Kylian Mbappe replacement?

I recently checked the Ligue 1 outright winner betting market by comparing a few trusted websites and found the most competitive odds on the Aussiebet online sportsbook.

Even without Mbappe up front, PSG are still the clear odds-on favorites to win the 2024/25 campaign outright. When I last checked, these were the odds:

In other words, although no bets are ever guaranteed to return you a profit, I would say that PSG are looking like a relatively safe bet. However, based on my personal experience, betting on the favourites still doesn’t always guarantee a return on your initial wager.

With that in mind, PSG are still one of the best teams in Europe (and France). Since the 2013/14 season, they have won the league an incredible ten times. They were runners-up on the two occasions when they didn’t win (in the 2016/17 and 2020/21 seasons).

It’s not looking as good for them in the UEFA Champions League. When I recently looked at these odds, I found they were only the seventh odds-on favourites to win.

Where are PSG in the league right now, and how have they faired in their opening games?

Even without signing a new striker to bolster their attack, I noticed that PSG haven’t really encountered any issues up front, having scored a whopping 13 goals in just three games, but we are only three games in.

They are sitting comfortably at the top of the table with 9 points above Marseille (#2), Nantes (#3), Lens (#4), and Monaco (#5), all of whom have 7 points. In their opening game of the season, they travelled away to play Le Harve on August 16, beating them 4-1 to get the new 2024/25 campaign off to a flying start.

I watched this game live on my smartphone and saw an early goal from Lee Kan-In in the third minute (the only goal PSG scored in the first half). The second half saw late goals from Ousmane Dembele (‘ 84), Bradley Barcola (‘ 86), and Randal Kolo Muani (a penalty in the 90th minute).

I would say that PSG’s second game of the season was even more convincing on August 23. I didn’t watch live, but I did manage to catch the highlights.

They were at home to Montpellier and beat the travelling side 6-0, with two goals from Bradley Barcola and one goal apiece from Marco Asensio, Achraf Hakimi, Warren Zaire-Emery, and Lee Kang-In.

In their most recent fixture, when they travelled away to play LOSC Lille (Lille Olympique Sporting Club), they picked up their third straight win of the season, beating them 3-1, with goals from Vitinha (penalty), Bradley Barcola, and Randal Kolo Muani.

As I already mentioned, PSG don’t seem to be missing Kylian Mbappe, and despite failing to secure a new striker in the transfer window, they are doing just fine. However, they have yet to face Monaco, Brest, Nice, Lyon or Marseille.

I believe these fixtures will be their biggest tests, but I also believe that they didn’t want to rush into signing any new striker without carefully selecting their man. Although it seemed chaotic and underwhelming, I have a feeling that they will have a much more successful January transfer window regarding a new striker.

Final thoughts

PSG will almost certainly sign a new striker early next year, but who that player might be is anybody’s guess. I know that I will be following the transfer rumours closely, especially when it comes to who PSG might sign.