SSC Napoli of Italy new arrival, Victor Osimhen has set for himself a lofty target of helping the club excel in next season’s EUFA Europa League, as he aims to justify his big money arrival after a long-drawn summer transfer saga, megasportsarena.com gathered.
Having starred with his former club, Lille Metropole of France in this season’s UEFA Champions League, during which he scored two goals, the first of which came against Chelsea of England, Osimhen says he is determined to move further in helping Napoli win the second-tier version.
Osimhen admitted he is already thinking big, after he signed for La Parthenopeans last month in a club-record fee of €80m, to become Nigeria’s most expensive player, and he admits it is a huge turnaround to the woes he faced early in his career at VfL Wolfsburg of Germany
He recounted how he endured a torrid spell in three years at Wolfsburg, which he joined few months after emerging top scorer at Chile 2015 FIFA U17 World Cup; but confessed that he failed to settle down due to pressure, change in weather and facing up to unfamiliar tactics.
Back then, Osimhen could not score any goal in a total of 12 bit-part appearances in the German Bundesliga, but he alleged as well that The Wolves did not give him the needed support to settle down and overcome various challenges that confronted him.
Eventually, in an almost desperate move to reignite his career, he joined Sporting Charleroi of Belgium on loan, after he had been rejected by the duo of Zulte Weragem and KAA Gent in the same country, following which he turned out to be an instant hit in the Jupiter League.
He scored 20 goals in 36 games during his time at Charleroi and was rewarded with a permanent contract, only for him to be sold few weeks later to Lille Metropole of France, who made what turned out to be a very inspired investment in buying him outright from The Zebras.
Osimhen was bought to step in as a direct replacement at Lille for Nicolas Pepe, who had been sold to Arsenal of England, and the Nigerian youngster did not disappoint, as he went on to hit home 18 goals and provided six assists in 38 appearances across all competitions; while finishing as his club’s best player for the season and overall best African performer in the French Ligue 1.
All that earned him a move to Napoli, where Osimhen has now declared that he wants to hit the ground running and to continue his impressive goals scoring form in the Italian Serie A as well as in Europe throughout the upcoming 2020/21 season with La Parthenopeans.
Osimhen told Sport1: “The weather, the language, the food [affected me]. It was my first time in Europe, I was just 18-years-old and I didn’t have enough time to acclimatize. They didn’t believe in me very much. I think that the love and acceptance that I experienced in Charleroi helped me a lot. I had just come out of a difficult situation and my self-confidence was at its lowest point.
“I hope that I will take this step further. It is a step that gives me the chance to become part of the history of Naples. There have been greats here like Maradona, Cavani, Higuain. We’ll be in Europe next season. I want to help the club do well in this competition and in the league too.
“I am proud to join a club, who have seen great players like Maradona, Higuain and Cavani. I also want to go into the club’s history. I want to have a good Serie A and also help the club in the Europa League.”
