SSC Napoli of Italy striker, Victor Osimhen could have been playing in the German Bundesliga instead of the Italian Serie A had RB Leipzig of Germany not pulled out of an ambitious move for his signature on account of the youngster’s heavy transfer fee, megasportsarena.com reports.
The Leipzig-based side, who recently loaned Nigerian-born winger, Ademola Lookman to Fulham of England, had been keen on taking Osimhen back to the German top-flight, despite his inability to excel during a torrid four-year-spell with their rivals, VfL Wolfsburg,
However, Osimhen’s wage demands knocked out a possible deal with Leipzig and, while he went on to sign the biggest transfer deal in Napoli’s history, the German suitors settled for a deal with Norway international striker, Alexander Sörloth after missing out on their number one target.
This much has been revealed by the German club’s coach, Julian Nagelsmann, who stressed that he had interest in Osimhen last summer but his side were priced out of a deal for the Chile 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup gold medalist and top scorer, who had been courted by a plethora of elite European clubs.
Osimhen was always bound to carry a hefty price tag, after shooting up into an escalated value chart with his breakout season at Sorting Charleroi of Belgium and an even better scorecard the following term at Lille Metropole of France, where he netted 18 goals in all competitions.
Napoli eventually won the race for Osimhen’s signature, with the Naples-based side signing him for an initial transfer fee of 70 million euro that could shoot up to 80 million, which Nagelsmann admitted is a huge fee his team could not afford to match.
Nagelsmann told Fussballtransfers: “Victor Osimhen was once in conversation, then he moved from Lille to Naples for over 60 million.
“There is a financial policy that we have and all strikers who guarantee a lot of goals cost upwards of 50 million euro. You have to be honest, that was just too much for us.”
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