More facts have emerged in the line of issues and factors that eventually made Lille Metropole of France striker, Victor Osimhen eventually agree to join SSC Napoli of Italy, and it was mostly because he eventually fell in love with Naples, the historic city in which the Italian Serie A club is based, megasportsarena.com reports.
Aside from the aura and allure he developed for Naples, after spending a week in the city with his girlfriend and agents, Osimhen also found himself attracted by the pedigree flowing round the club as well as the love shown him by their officials and fans, such that he felt it would be a betrayal on his part should he snub them.
Indeed, Osimhen had twice pulled out of almost sealed deals with the club that once had Diego Armando Maradona on their cards, with the Nigerian youngster first alleging fears of racism and then cited selfish tactics from his former agent, but all that has turned around in Napoli’s favour.
This much has been disclosed by a Germany-based Nigerian sports writer, Oma Akatugba, who disclosed that Osimhen has been left thrilled by the atmosphere he found in Naples, the warm reception he got from Napoli officials, love shown by the fans and healthy talks with the club’s amiable president, Aurelio de Laurentiis, following which he finally agreed to sign with the side.
The dark-skinned journalist affirmed that a formal announcement of the deal is now billed to be made this week for the 21-year-old lad, who enjoyed a fantastic debut season with Lille, scoring 18 goals with six assists in 38 games across all competitions.
This spectacular form put him in the shopping window for top European teams, with interest coming from the English Premier League quintet of Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Leicester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Sevilla of Spain, as well as AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus of Italy, but he is now set to be unveiled by Napoli.
The total package is said to be worth €81m, which is way far above the €12m fee with which Lille bought him from Sporting Charleroi of Belgium only last summer, following which he emerged the French Ligue 1 club’s best player and top scorer as well as best African in the competition, Akatugba has now spilled the beans on how his transfer to Napoli finally became possible.
Akatugba told Radio Punto Nuovo: “He is already 90% a player of Napoli. He has been there twice already; he was struck by the city, by the club’s project, by everything that Naples can offer him. He has read all the messages Neapolitan fans have written to him during this time.
“He has been impressed and can’t wait to become a new Napoli player. I heard that tomorrow the last bureaucratic steps with Lille will be resolved and then the arrival of Osimhen in Naples will be formalised.”
