A fresh angle of doubt has erupted in the recent link Lille Metropole of France striker, Victor Osimhen has with SSC Napoli of Italy, following the youngster’s emergence as Nigeria’s most valuable player and fourth highest from Africa, megasportsarena.com has learnt.
The development is coming at a point Napoli’s sporting director, Cristiano Giuntoli confessed that it will be difficult for his club to snatch the Super Eagles’ youngster, who was on Monday named as Nigeria’s costliest player of the moment, according to figures released by International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) Football Observatory.
The latest CIES biannual list featuring footballers from Europe’s top five spots of the English Premier League, Spanish LaLiga, Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 cites Osimhen at a value of €64m and 66th overall globally.
Osimhen, who scored 18 goals and provided six assists in 31 matches for Lille this season, is behind Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane among the top five Africa players, with the Liveropool stars are valued at €145 and €139 respectively, while Arsenal’s Pepe is third with a value of €73m.
The only other Nigerian player in the top-100 bracket is Leicester City of England midfielder, Wilfred Onyinyen Ndidi, who is valued at €50m, to place fifth in Africa and 94th in the world, which is way behind Osimhen’s current price tag of €75m, as stipulated by Lille for his likely summer transfer.
In the wake of Osimhen’s denial of a widely reported agreement between him and the Naples-based club that once had Argentina legend, Diego Maradona in their ranks, Giuntoli has spoken out to acknowledge that it will be difficult to sign the Nigerian youngster.
He went on to name the former VfL Wolfsburg of Germany and Sporting Charleroi of Belgium star alongside Osimhen and three other players that Napoli will find hard to get this summer, despite them all being linked with likely deals in the coming days.
Named alongside Osimhen in this regard are Zenit St Petersburg of Russia’s Sardar Azmoun, Real Madrid of Spain’s Luka Jovic and Gremio of Brazil’s Everton Soares; especially with Napoli’s hope of signing the Nigerian fast-rising star constantly under threat from the English Premier League quintet of Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.
The 21-year-old Osimhen, who is under contract with Lille until June 2024, is also reportedly wanted by Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Sevilla of Spain as well as AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus of Italy.
All this has left Giuntoli doubtful of his club’s chances of snatching the one he labeled ‘a very talented player,’ even as he admitted they are still in the market for a striker to replace their outgoing Poland ace, Arkadiusz Milik, who is already billed for the exit door this summer.
Giuntoli told Sky Sports Italia: “Azmoun, Osimhen, Jovic? They are very talented; it is difficult to bring them to Napoli because they are very sought after. Everton? He is another very good footballer. I don’t know we have to see what the situation of these players will be like in two months. We must calmly do the right steps.”
