By Bede Nnaji
After a troubling end of season brouhaha involving Victor Osimhen and his Italian club Napoli, which would have had the Nigerian international out of competitive football till next year, Galatasaray of Turkey came to the rescue. The last-minute deal between Napoli and Galatasaray, according to sources, will last till June 2025 and will make the Nigerian lad pocket about $6.65 million (10.8 billion naira).
The good news is that Osimhen is enjoying his football again after a turbulent last season with Napoli which saw him having issues with both management and players, even the current coach Antone Conte preferred a much older Romelu Lukaku as his top striker in his place, a further confirmation that his services was no longer needed at the Serie A team.
At securing a loan deal with Turkish Galatasaray, the reigning African current footballer of the year was given a rousing welcome on his first day at the team, and ever since, he has been enjoying the fun fare.
Osimhen has not disappointed the fans either, as he has continued with his goal scoring prowess and superlative assists. As at press time, he has scored 4 goals and made 4 assists in just 6 matches, with a stunning bicycle kick goal against Antalya Por in their recent match, a strike which may be adjourned the best goal of the season in Turkey this year.
With the pace the 26 year old Nigerian is moving, it won’t surprise anyone if he emerges the Turkish league highest goal scorer and even the most valuable player at the end of the season.
Born Victor James Osimhen, in Olusosun,Oregun a suburb in Lagos State Nigeria, on the 28th of December 1998 to a lower class family of Mr and Mrs Patrick Osimhen, who originally are from the Esan ethnic group of Edo State Nigeria.
Life was initially very tough for little Victor and his family, as he and his siblings had to do lots of menial jobs in order to put food on the table.
In a recent interview he disclosed how he had to hawk “pure water” at Lagos traffics, fetch water for neighbors, clean drainages amongst other things, for him to survive.
Victor’s can be likened to a child of grace, as his football career was not influenced by any “godfather ‘.
According to him, when he went to the Under 17 screening exercise in Abuja, he felt that the then Coach Emanuel Amuneke didn’t like his style of play, even as he was banging in goals during trainings, as he was the last person picked for the under 17 world cup squad. But all that has become history today, as the young lad has emerged, one of Nigeria’s greatest football exports