New Napoli frontman Victor Osimhen turned down the chance to sign for Manchester United because he didn't want to compete with Odion Ighalo.
The Nigerian was a star for Lille last term and scored 18 goals in 38 appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit.
Those efforts attracted the attention of some of Europe's heavyweights, with United among those.
But despite their efforts to sign him Osimhen opted for a £46m switch to Napoli.
And the striker's brother, Andrew, has revealed that Ighalo's presence at Old Trafford was a major factor in his decision.
“It is very true that Manchester United wanted Victor," he told Complete Sports .
"But he told me something like he had too much respect for Odion Ighalo to be competing for shirts with his senior colleague.
“My brother holds Ighalo in high esteem and he just didn’t see himself going to Old Trafford to battle for a striking role with the highest goal-scorer at the 2019 AFCON in Egypt.”
Ighalo was a surprise arrival at Old Trafford when he joined on deadline day from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua.
The 31-year-old has proved the doubters wrong however and United have extended the player's loan into next season.
Osimhen has wasted no time in proving his worth at Napoli however and bagged three goals in eight minutes during an 11-0 pre-season win.
His new boss, Gennaro Gattuso, was keen to manage expectations however.
“It’s too easy to get excited now, we’ve got to give him time and let him work, not put pressure on," he said.
“He is an important player and we paid a lot for him, but there were no doubts he would give us something different that we haven’t had in my time here. There’s a long way to go.”
