'I'm not surprised' - Pundit backs Osimhen's decision to pick MLS over Saudi Pro League 

Napoli striker Victor Osimhen recently went on Mario Balotelli's live stream and said that all things being equal if he had to leave Europe, he would pick Major League Soccer over the Saudi Arabia Pro League.

Having failed to sign Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe and 2022 World Cup winner Lionel Messi, Al Hilal made an enormous bid for Osimhen in the summer transfer window but Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis did not want to do business with the four-time Asian champions.

The saga surrounding Osimhen and his future has dominated the headlines for some time now due to his contract situation at Napoli.

The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers top scorer will enter the last one year of his contract with Napoli at the end of the current season and no progress has been made in contract renewal talks. 

Discussing Osimhen's suggestion that he would rather play in the MLS rather than in the Saudi Pro League, ESPN FC's pundit Gab Marcotti says he's not surprised that the striker chose the American top flight.

"The key thing is 'all things being equal' so if they gave you the same money in Saudi Arabia that they gave you in MLS, and I say this with the greatest of respect to Riyadh and Jeddah, would you rather live in LA and further your career in the world's biggest economy, 350 million people, celebrity bling, or would you rather do it in Saudi Arabia?

"I can understand why Osimhen would say this so I'm not surprised. Things generally are not equal. MLS generally pays less which is why Benzema and Cristiano are not in MLS right now," Marcotti said on The Gab & Juls Show.

Former  Lille striker Osimhen joined Napoli in 2020 for a fee in the region of 70 million euros, making him the most expensive Nigerian player in history. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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