Victor Osimhen CF9: Rising Star of Nigerian Football – The Extraordinary Journey From Lagos to European Football Stardom

The Story of Napoli’s Rising Star, Victor Osimhen

Victor James Osimhen is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for both Serie A club Napoli and the Nigeria national team. He is widely regarded as one of the top attackers in Serie A due to his outstanding ability to score goals, formidable physical prowess, speed, and agility. He was born on December 29, 1998.

Early life

Osimhen was born in Lagos, the most popular city in Nigeria. His parents’ families come from Esan South East L.G.A.L.G.A. of Edo State in Nigeria, which is in southern Nigeria. The Napoli player grew up in Olusosun, a small village near Oregun, Ikeja, and Lagos, with his brother Andrew and four other brothers. Victor was the sixth and final child.
Victor’s father, Pa Patrick Osimhen, was his son’s manager until 2015 when he shifted the baton to a French agent, Oliver Noah of Noga Sports Management. On the other hand, the mother of the Napoli striker is late.

Club Career

Osimhen began his professional career at an academy known as the Ultimate Strikers Academy in Lagos, Nigeria.
After an impressive 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup performance, he started to draw the attention of various European clubs. Osimhen led the Nigerian U-17 team to victory in the FIFA U-17 World Cup and received the Golden Boot and the Silver Ball.
He signed a pre-contract with VfL Wolfsburg in January 2016 but officially joined the club in January 2017.

VFL Wolfsburg

On January 5, 2017, Osimhen signed a contract with VfL Wolfsburg that would last three and a half years until June 2020. Unfortunately, due to an injury, he didn’t start playing after he arrived at VfL Wolfsburg until May 13, when he came on as a replacement in the 59th minute of a 1-1 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach.
On January 28, 2018, Osimhen started his first Bundesliga against Hannover. He played all 90 minutes of their 1-0 win; this was his first game in the league. He had surgery on his shoulder on May 2.

Charleroi

In the summer, Osimhen tried out for the Belgian teams Zulte Waregem and Club Brugge, the current champions. However, due to malaria he contracted in the summer, neither team wanted to take him on loan. After making only 16 appearances for Wolfsburg and failing to score in any of them, he was loaned to Belgian club Charleroi on August 22.

Osimhen played his first game for Charleroi on September 1 against Excel Mouscron. He replaced Jérémy Perbet late in the game. On September 22, he played his first game. He scored his first goal with a backheel against Waasland-Beveren. he had scored eight goals in 16 games by the first half’s end of the season. Only Cristian Benavente scored more goals for the team.

Lille

In 2019, the Napoli striker was rumored to be a target striker for several European sides. However, Osimhen signed a five-year deal with French Ligue 1 club Lille on August 1, 2019, confirming his transfer. The transfer fee was said to be €12 million plus an extra €3 million in bonuses and extras.
Osimhen is one of the great Nigerian players to play for Lille (Peter Odemwingie and Vincent Enyeama played for Lille before they retired from international football). Upon arriving at Lille, he was given the number 7. This was Rafael Leo’s while playing for Lille.

Ten days after the move, on August 11, Osimhen played his first game for the club in Ligue 1 and scored two goals in a 2-1 win over Nantes. Two weeks later, in his third game in France, he scored another brace in a 3–0 home win against Saint-Étienne. The French sports newspaper L’Équipe rated him an 8/10 for his performance.

He was selected as the Ligue 1 Player of the Month for September 2019. In Lille’s five league games that month, he scored two goals and helped set up two more. Then, on October 2, 2019, in a 1–2 home loss to Chelsea from England, Osimhen scored his first goal in the U.E.F.A. Champions League.

In March, the league released a report that said he was the player who had broken the 35 km/h (21.75 mph) mark the most, with seven runs over this speed, more than Kylian Mbappé. At the end of the season, the Nigerian was Lille’s top scorer, with 13 goals in 25 league games and 18 overall.

Osimhen has been widely projected to win the African Footballer of the Year title shortly after a stellar season in which he scored a league-high 17 goals. He was awarded the 2020 Prix Marc-Vivien Foé to the best African player in the French championship. With the most votes from supporters, he got recognized as Lille’s “Player of the Season” on June 2, 2020.

Napoli

On July 31, 2020, Serie A club Napoli revealed that they would buy Osimhen for a club-record fee of €70 million, which could go up to €80 million with add-ons. This would make him the most expensive African player to be sold.
In a 4-1 win over Atalanta on October 17, he got his first goal for Napoli. When he scored, he held up a shirt, passing a message that police brutality in his home country, Nigeria, had to stop.

On November 13, during an international break with Nigeria, Osimhen suffered an injury during an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game. He had to be carried off on a bed. Then, it was decided that he had hurt his shoulder, which would keep him off the field for two months.

On October 12, 2022, Osimhen got his first Champions League goal for Napoli in a 4-2 win over Ajax. Two weeks later, he scored his first Serie A hat trick. He now has 32 goals in the Italian Serie A, breaking Simy’s record of 31.

On February 17, 2023, he scored his 100th goal, which helped Napoli beat Sassuolo 2-0. He also became the first Napoli player in the three-point era to score in seven straight league games. In the round of 16 of the CL, Osimhen scored three goals for Napoli against Eintracht Frankfurt. This led to a 5–0 win on aggregate and Napoli’s first trip to the quarterfinals.

International Career

Osimhen’s first outing for Nigeria was with the Nigeira U-17 team. He played for Nigeria at Chile’s 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He left the tournament with ten goals, the Golden Boot, and the Silver Ball. He also won the C.A.F.C.A.F. Youth Player of the Year award for an outstanding performance at the FIFA U-17 tournament.

On June 10, 2017, he played his first game for Nigeria’s senior team. After a disappointing season at Wolfsburg, he wasn’t picked to play for Nigeria at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. However, following an impressive start at Charleroi, Gernot Rohr recalled him to the team to join the international break in November 2018.

Style of Play and Statistics

Osimhen is known for being strong, fast, and a good finisher, making him a threat to an opposing team’s defense. He is also good in the air and can dribble and control the ball properly, making him a well-rounded striker.

Life outside football

With his popularity growing in Europe, most fans have probably asked if Victor Osimhen is married. Before becoming a famous football player, it was said that he dated a lady known as Blessing. While dating, they often posted pictures of each other on Instagram.

At the time of writing this article, Osimhen was not married. He is one of the professional footballers who do a great job keeping their relationships private.
Victor Osimhen has been seen driving around in some expensive cars. One of them is the luxury Mercedes G-Wagon that cost him 65,000,000 NGN.

Salary and Net Worth

Osimhen earns €104,808 weekly and €419,232 monthly. This makes him Napoli’s second-highest earner. He makes a total of €4.5 million a year in Napoli. The Italian club is nearly winning its first Serie A title in a long time.
According to the Punch newspaper, Aurelio De Laurentiis, the owner of Napoli, is still waiting to sell his striker for a low price. Instead, he has put a €130 million (£115 million) price tag on the player.

Honors

During the FIFA U-17 World Cup, Victor Osimhen took home the Silver Ball and the Golden Boot. The Nigerian U-17 team emerged as champions of the tournament.
He was part of the Nigerian squad that finished in third place in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
He won the African U-17 Championship Golden Boot in 2015.
He was declared C.A.F.C.A.F. Youth Player of the Year for 2015.

The Napoli striker was awarded the U.N.F.P.U.N.F.P. Ligue 1 “Player of the Month” award for September 2019. This is an award given to the best Ligue 1 player each month.
The Nigerian-born striker was given the Prix Marc-Vivien Foé in 2020. The Prix Marc-Vivien Foé is an award named after the late Marc-Vivien Foé. The Prix Marc-Vivien Foé is an award named after the late Marc-Vivien Foé. It recognizes the best player on an African national football team who plays in Ligue 1.

While at Lille, Victor Osimhen won the Lille Player of the Season award in 2019–20.
He was Serie A’s Best Young Player for the 2021–22 season.
Nominated Serie A Player of the Month for March 2022 and January 2023
He won the Serie A Goal of the Month award for January 2023.
In 2022, Osimhen received the Globe Soccer Awards Emerging Player of the Year 2022 award.
The Nigerian striker won the Stampa Estera Italia Best Foreign Athlete of the Year in 2022.

Fun Facts About Victor Osimhen

The Napoli Nigerian-born striker idolizes Didier Drogba.
Osimhen was linked to moving to Zulte Waregem and Club Brugge. But he got malaria in the summer, which affected his health, and neither club chose to take him on loan.
Arsenal tried to sign Victor Osimhen. After his big season in 2015, many teams were interested in signing the Nigerian star, and Arsenal was one of them. He even talked to Arsene Wenger, the manager of Arsenal at the time.

Since his first game with the senior team in 2017, Osimhen has played 23 times for the Super Eagles and scored 15 goals. His total puts him in ninth place on the list of all-time top scorers in the country. He also has the best goal-per-game average (0.68) of the top 10 scorers.
Osimhen is only one goal behind current players Ahmed Musa and Odion Ighalo, who both have 16.

Why does Osimhen wear a mask?
Although the Nigerian striker has been cleared to play after a head injury and successful surgery, he still wears a protective mask.
In a head-to-head collision with Inter Milan defender Milan Skriniar on November 22, 2021, Osimhen sustained many facial fractures. The surgeon on Osimhen said the procedure required three plates and six screws.
Osimhen’s facial injury required surgery, which forced him out of action for three months. Since his return to the field of play on January 17, 2022, Osimhem has always been seen with a mask covering his face.