Napoli sign Osimhen from Lille for a record fee of £54m
Serie A side, Napoli, have confirmed the signing of Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen from Lille for a record fee worth £54million. The 21-year-old arrives at the Stadio San Paolo in a deal worth €60million (£54.1m), according to reports in Italy, making him one of the most expensive African footballers of all time.
Osimhen has penned a fiveyear deal to join the Partenopei, with Greek goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis - formerly of Watford - heading to Lille in the other direction.
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis announced the deal via his personal Twitter account, writing: “Benvenuto Victor! #ADL”, before the club confirmed the deal shortly afterwards.
Osimhen, Nigeria international had attracted interest from several of Europe’s top clubs after scoring 13 goals in Ligue 1 and netting against Chelsea in the Champions League group stage.
Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool have all been linked with a move for the striker, although Lille’s valuation had scared off potential suitors.
After finishing outside the
Champions League qualification places following the early cancellation of the French Ligue 1 season due to the outbreak of coronavirus, Lille have now decided to cash in on Osimhen.
Osimhen is expected to replace Polish forward Arkadiusz Milik, who is likely to be sold after turning down a new contract at Napoli, with Juventus reportedly the front runners for his signature.
Osimhen had joined Lille from Belgium’s Charleroi as a replacement for Pepe.
After scoring 18 goals in all competitions for Lille last season, the 21-year-old hade been linked for several weeks with Napoli.
In June, Osimhen, was named as Lille’s player of the season in what was his first campaign in France, and the Nigerian was also named in Ligue 1’s team of the season.
Osimhen burst into the spotlight at the 2015 Under-17 World Cup in Chile, as he clinched the Golden Boot and Silver Ball awards while steering the Golden Eaglets to the title.
The then-16-year-old scored a tournament record 10 goals, netting in every one of Nigeria’s games, in a performance that helped earn him Africa’s Youth Player of the Year award for 2015.
His displays at that World Cup also earned him a move to Wolfsburg but Osimhen, who turned down Arsenal to play in Germany’s Bundesliga, admitted to struggling as he slowly adapted to both the league and European football.
After a barren season in which the striker, affected by injury, did not score in 16 games, he moved to Belgium where the goals soon flowed - 19 in his first campaign at Charleroi, where he was originally on loan before making the move permanent.