Victor Osimhen: A true Neopolitan legend in the making

Growing up with very little chance to have a prolific future, Osimhen was the youngest of seven siblings, living in a two-bedroom apartment and losing his parents at a young age the Nigerian didn’t have a lot of places to look - football was the answer.

He started by taking part of the Ultimate Strikers Academy, allowing him to shine, and soon he was raising eyebrows around his nation. He was then sent to the Under-17 Nigeria squad - also known as the Golden Eaglets - starring in the team that travelled to the World Cup in Chile in 2015.

Osimhen was a star for the side, winning the silver ball and golden boot as the interest moved from local to international.

It led to him signing a three-and-a-half-year deal with Wolfsburg in January 2017, and that is where the fairytale met the reality and perhaps cruelty of the beautiful game.

The move to Wolfsburg was far from what the striker would’ve dreamed with the club going through a relegation battle and constant managerial changes. It was difficult for young Osimhen to flourish, especially with an almost radical change of environment from a Nigerian academy to Germany’s top flight.

“Everything was different,” he said. “The food, the climate, the language, the way people treated me.”

Despite shoulder surgery and recovering from malaria, he took his chances with a loan move to Belgian side Charleroi, where he finally began to find his potential. With 20 goals in 36 games, Osimhen was definitely back on the right track.

This saw him back into Europe’s top five leagues once again, with a transfer to Lille - 13 goals in 27 appearances with remarkable performances in the Champions League and goals against big names, the only way for Osimhen was up.

It brought him his biggest moment of his football journey - signing for Napoli. In turn, he became the most expensive African player ever with a club-record fee of €70m, potentially rising to €80m with add-ons, as well as Serie A's seventh most expensive player.

And unlike many of the football's world-record signings, Osimhen was not intimidated by the price tag and has been showing his worth over the last three years.

Doing so was far from an easy feat, his inevitable enemy hit again. The Nigerian accumulated a challenging amount of injuries, missing more than 45 games since arriving in Italy.

Just three months after putting pen to paper, Osimhen suffered a horrible incident, breaking his nose and having his eye pop out of its socket. He endured three hours of surgery with three cuts to the face, six plates and 18 screws to help him recover.

Two months later, he was back on the pitch.

Some might have thought his challenging start in Italy was the sign of another cursed striker - Napoli have been struggling to find a prolific, productive and consistent number nine since the departure of formerly adored and now hated Gonzalo Higuain.

The Argentinian had broken club legend Diego Maradona’s record for goals in a season with 36 and was an integral part to Maurizio Sarri’s squad that came close to winning the Scudetto a few times.

Nevertheless, Osimhen was out to prove people wrong once again. Scoring 14 goals and creating two in 27 matches in his second season, he was awarded Serie A’s best young player for the 2021/22 campaign.

By then he had naturally become a regular starter when fit, a lot of the weight and expectations was put on his shoulders as new teammates and younger stars arrived in the summer of 2022.

Departures of club legends and big names such as Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens, Kalidou Koulibaly, Fabian Ruiz and more created the idea that the team that might have challenged for the Scudetto had been dissolved and that the coming period would be one of re-building - something that seemed set to upset the inhabitants of Naples.

However manager Luciano Spalletti, with his new signings and Osimhen, had other ideas.

The Nigerian became the head of a squad about to step into history as they qualified for the Champions League’s quarter-finals for the first time ever and they are on the cusp of winning the Scudetto for the first time in three decades, a feat last completed before Osimhen was even born.

The last three seasons have seen Napoli get closer and closer to the top but falling short, finishing seventh, fifth and third.

Spalletti, who arrived in the summer of 2021, vowed to write his own history and make his second season a record-breaking one. The Italian maestro created a Napoli side that has shocked the world in defying the odds and expectations, installing a catchy and intense football with the transformed Osimhen at the heart of it all.

The leader in the dugout appreciated his striker’s versatility as a poacher, one that was displayed in his goal against Roma at home: “There is everything in that goal, technical quality, character to juggle the ball between two defenders, then he hit this rocket into the net, as he really has got a cannon for a foot.

"He has physical strength, accepts the challenge, tracks back to help, is good in the air. He is the complete package.”

The Nigerian has 30 goal contributions in 29 matches, finding the net on 25 occasions. Spalletti made the most out of his natural talents and abilities, as well as his acquired skills pushing him to be the best possible striker he could be.

Known for his pace, Osimhen has a unique way of flashing past defenders with or without the ball recording a 34.3 km/h sprint speed, and when that doesn’t prevail, the Nigerian relies on his 185cm figure to brush defenders aside and stay composed when pressured, capable of scoring from impossible angles.

On land or in the air, eight of his goals this season have come with his head.

His header against Spezia broke none other than Cristiano Ronaldo’s jump record with a leap of 2.58 meters to reach the ball and head it in between two opponents.

The perfect mixture of pace and physicality, Osimhen remains a centre forward by the book, scoring all of his goals from inside the box. That said, he also has modern qualities.

“As for Victor Osimhen’s brace, his heading ability is phenomenal, be it attacking the near post or climbing high at the far post,” Spalletti told journalists after a 4-0 win at Torino.

“He’s like a two-headed dragon. Once again he showed his quality, not just as a forward but as an all-round footballer. He’s a really generous player.”

In other words, he presses high when out of possession, highly favouring him in the eyes of his boss who cherishes the intensity of his attacking players.

“Osimhen is such a great striker. I am stunned by the unexpressed potential he has and excited to see what he’ll do in future. There were these two or three balls down the touchline and he has the pace, the skill, the courage and physicality to deal with those situations.

“After all, he smashed his face a couple of times because he goes for every ball. He still has remarkable room for improvement.”

Those were Spalletti’s words after his side defeated Juventus in a historical 5-1 win.

Back in February, the student praised the master as well, explaining his secret effect on him and the team: "Spalletti always pushes me to give my best, he's a very good and very demanding coach.

"He wants every player to be able to express himself at his best, and we follow him because we're doing an extraordinary job, which can be seen in the game and in the results."

The forward also recognised the benefit that playing under Spalletti has had on his performance and has labelled this his best season to date.

"This is definitely the best season of my career, I feel great mentally and physically, and I'm happy to be able to continue like this to achieve great goals,” he concluded.

Osimhen’s partnership with his attacking teammates, especially the fiery Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, has been a massive part of the side’s success, they have contributed to 50 out of Napoli’s 64 Serie A goals.

A strike duo that caught the eye of Champions League winners Real Madrid’s boss Carlo Ancelotti: “Kvaratskhelia is a great player, he is doing well with Victor Osimhen, they are very efficient."

Osimhen has proved time and again his quality, a versatile number nine with a one-of-a-kind eye for goal, supported with the physical and technical attributes, the greatest momentum the club has had in decades and a team and staff he gets perfectly along with.

The Nigerian has nevertheless been linked with big names such as PSG, Manchester United and Chelsea so whether he will remain in the south of Italy and cement his rich legacy or seek glory elsewhere is still to be seen.

The legendary status in Naples is often related to the late Diego Maradona who led them to their golden era and Scudetto back in 1990. To get near him is no easy accomplishment, many have tried but succumbed to the pressure and fell short countless times.

However the boy from Lagos seems to get close in changing that. The question is, is a Scudetto enough for his admission amongst the Paretnopei greats, or will an even more historical triumph, one that has no precedent, such as lifting a Champions League trophy be the entry requirement?

A portion of the answer to that question can be found later on Wednesday night as Napoli host AC Milan in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, another occasion for Osimhen to step up after missing a couple of games to injury.