Duro Ikhazuagbe<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0with agency report<\/p>\nA former Manchester United first-team coach, Benni McCarthy, has revealed that the biennial staging of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which regularly falls in the middle of the European season, was responsible for why the Red Devil failed to sign Victor Osimhen.<\/p>\n
But the 27-year-old Nigerian striker justified the huge \u20ac75million and about \u20ac20million yearly salary paid by Galatasaray as he helped the Turkish champions knockout Juventus from the Champions League last night. He scored in Galatasaray\u2019s \u2019 3-2 loss in extra time in Turin but qualified 7-5 aggregate for the Last 16. They are\u00a0\u00a0to face the winner of the clash between Liverpool and Tottenham in the Last 16.<\/p>\n
McCarthy who is a\u00a0\u00a0former South African Bafana Bafana forward\u00a0\u00a0was part of the Old Trafford staff under then manager Erik ten Hag when Manchester United initiated the move to lure the 2023 African Player of the Year to the Theater of Dreams.<\/p>\n
Osimhen attracted attention from Europe\u2019s elite sides after scoring 26 league goals in 2022-23 to help fire Napoli to a first Italian title in 33 years.<\/p>\n
According to McCarthy in an interview with\u00a0Newsday<\/strong>on the\u00a0BBC World Service<\/em>, the biennial staging of the AFCON which regularly falls in the middle of the European season, meant United switched to other targets despite Osimhen initially being \u201cat the top of the list\u201d.<\/p>\n\u201cIf you spend \u00a3100m on a player, you don\u2019t want to lose him for AFCON,\u201d observed McCarthy who at the time played a role in the recruitment of strikers and thought Osimhen would \u201cfit perfect\u201d with the Red Devils.<\/p>\n
He continued:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI think he would have been very successful there. But it (AFCON) was a big stumbling block.<\/p>\n
\u201cLosing him for so many important matches, the team suffers not having the main striker there.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the decision was made. Literally (a) big part was because of the AFCON and Victor Osimhen\u2019s name got scratched off \u2013 not a player of interest because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
United instead signed Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta for \u00a372million in August 2023, with the Denmark international scoring 26 goals in 95 appearances before joining Napoli on loan last September.<\/p>\n
Osimhen, meanwhile, was named African footballer of the year in 2023 but left Napoli to join Galatasaray on loan in September 2024, and the 27-year-old then sealed a permanent switch to the Turkish giants last July.<\/p>\n
RESULTS\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nUCL<\/strong><\/p>\nAtalanta 4-1 Dortmund\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Aggregate 4-3)<\/p>\n
Juventus 3-2\u00a0\u00a0Galatasaray\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Aggregate 5-7)<\/p>\n
PSG 2-2 Monaco\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Aggregate 5-4)<\/p>\n
R\u2019Madrid 2-1 Benfica<\/p>\n
(Aggregate 3-1)<\/p>\n
NPFL\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nRivers Utd 1-0 Barau\u00a0<\/p>\n
TODAY<\/strong><\/p>\nEuropa League\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nStuttgart v\u00a0\u00a0Celtic\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
C\u2019Zvezda v Lille<\/p>\n
Ferencvaros v Ludogorets\u00a0<\/p>\n
Plzen v Panathinaikos<\/p>\n
Bologna v Brann\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Genk v Din. Zagreb<\/p>\n
Nottingham v Fenerbache\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Celta Vigo\u00a0\u00a0v\u00a0\u00a0PAOK\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u200e<\/p>\n
, Education \u2013 THISDAYLIVE, February 26, 2026, 1:48 am<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Benni McCarthy Lists AFCON as Why Man Utd Failed to Sign Osimhen, , *Osimhen justifies Galatasaray\u2019s investment, help knockout Juventus from UCL Duro Ikhazuagbe\u00a0\u00a0with agency report A former Manchester United first-team coach, Benni McCarthy, has revealed that the biennial staging of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which regularly falls in the middle of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10,636],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-school-matters","category-sport"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Benni McCarthy Lists AFCON as Why Man Utd Failed to Sign Osimhen - EduNews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Benni McCarthy Lists AFCON as Why Man Utd Failed to Sign Osimhen - EduNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Benni McCarthy Lists AFCON as Why Man Utd Failed to Sign Osimhen, , *Osimhen justifies Galatasaray\u2019s investment, help knockout Juventus from UCL Duro Ikhazuagbe\u00a0\u00a0with agency report A former Manchester United first-team coach, Benni McCarthy, has revealed that the biennial staging of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which regularly falls in the middle of the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EduNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/edumarkconsult\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-26T01:48:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"eduadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EdumarkNG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EdumarkNG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"eduadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"eduadmin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a5b374d36d8a925f42febcfabddf8339\"},\"headline\":\"Benni McCarthy Lists AFCON as Why Man Utd Failed to Sign Osimhen\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-26T01:48:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":486,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Education\",\"School Matters\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\\\/\",\"name\":\"Benni McCarthy Lists AFCON as Why Man Utd Failed to Sign Osimhen - EduNews\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-26T01:48:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Benni McCarthy Lists AFCON as Why Man Utd Failed to Sign Osimhen\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"EduNews\",\"description\":\"No1 Education & General News Platform\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Edumark Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/edumark-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/edumark-logo.png\",\"width\":316,\"height\":159,\"caption\":\"Edumark Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/edumarkconsult\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/EdumarkNG\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/edumark-consult-limited\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/edumarkng\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a5b374d36d8a925f42febcfabddf8339\",\"name\":\"eduadmin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b0687d3dd3be0e5ec81505e7230affc3ceed78e9b3553ff03c301832b1bb91d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b0687d3dd3be0e5ec81505e7230affc3ceed78e9b3553ff03c301832b1bb91d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b0687d3dd3be0e5ec81505e7230affc3ceed78e9b3553ff03c301832b1bb91d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"eduadmin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/edumarkng.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/eduadmin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Benni McCarthy Lists AFCON as Why Man Utd Failed to Sign Osimhen - EduNews","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Benni McCarthy Lists AFCON as Why Man Utd Failed to Sign Osimhen - EduNews","og_description":"Benni McCarthy Lists AFCON as Why Man Utd Failed to Sign Osimhen, , *Osimhen justifies Galatasaray\u2019s investment, help knockout Juventus from UCL Duro Ikhazuagbe\u00a0\u00a0with agency report A former Manchester United first-team coach, Benni McCarthy, has revealed that the biennial staging of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which regularly falls in the middle of the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\/","og_site_name":"EduNews","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/edumarkconsult\/","article_published_time":"2026-02-26T01:48:20+00:00","author":"eduadmin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EdumarkNG","twitter_site":"@EdumarkNG","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"eduadmin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\/"},"author":{"name":"eduadmin","@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/a5b374d36d8a925f42febcfabddf8339"},"headline":"Benni McCarthy Lists AFCON as Why Man Utd Failed to Sign Osimhen","datePublished":"2026-02-26T01:48:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\/"},"wordCount":486,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Education","School Matters","Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\/","url":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\/","name":"Benni McCarthy Lists AFCON as Why Man Utd Failed to Sign Osimhen - EduNews","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-02-26T01:48:20+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/benni-mccarthy-lists-afcon-as-why-man-utd-failed-to-sign-osimhen\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Benni McCarthy Lists AFCON as Why Man Utd Failed to Sign Osimhen"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/","name":"EduNews","description":"No1 Education & General News Platform","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Edumark Consult","url":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/edumark-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/edumark-logo.png","width":316,"height":159,"caption":"Edumark Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/edumarkconsult\/","https:\/\/x.com\/EdumarkNG","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/edumark-consult-limited\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/edumarkng\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/a5b374d36d8a925f42febcfabddf8339","name":"eduadmin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0687d3dd3be0e5ec81505e7230affc3ceed78e9b3553ff03c301832b1bb91d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0687d3dd3be0e5ec81505e7230affc3ceed78e9b3553ff03c301832b1bb91d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0687d3dd3be0e5ec81505e7230affc3ceed78e9b3553ff03c301832b1bb91d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"eduadmin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news"],"url":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/author\/eduadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17229\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edumarkng.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}