Victor Osimhen has disclosed that he was pressured into joining Napoli in 2020 despite his reluctance, describing the move as one of the most difficult moments of his career, Soccernet.ng reports.
Italian financial investigators’ probe into Napoli’s transfer dealings remains ongoing.
Speaking to prosecutors, Osimhen revealed how his then-agent and Lille hierarchy pushed him into signing for the Serie A club while he was preoccupied with his father’s deteriorating health.
“The agent I had before told me that Napoli had serious interest, but he was only interested in my transfer, whereas my mind at the time was entirely on my father’s health. I just wanted to know how he was doing,” Osimhen said in documents made public this week, as per Football-Italia.
Osimhen’s €75 million switch from Lille to Napoli made him Africa’s second most expensive footballer at the time, only behind Nicolas Pépé’s €80m move to Arsenal.
The deal drew intense scrutiny in Italy, with prosecutors alleging inflated valuations and hidden payments, claims Napoli and their president Aurelio De Laurentiis have consistently denied. Though the sporting investigation was dropped, Italian financial authorities are still examining the case.
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Victor Osimhen: I was angry with Lille and my agent
The Nigerian forward, now starring for Turkish giants Galatasaray, painted a deeply personal picture of the events surrounding his transfer.
Osimhen described feeling manipulated and emotionally drained during a period marked by family tragedy.
“Following my father’s death, I was very angry with both Lille and my agent, because I didn’t get to see him before he died,” he said.
“They had even told me I had to leave the day after for Naples, without even giving me time to deal with the death of my father.”
Despite his grief, Osimhen travelled to Italy ‘out of respect for the Lille President.’ He recounted meeting Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso and club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis, but said the language barrier and confusion over contract details left him uneasy.
“He asked me if I had seen the contract yet, but I hadn’t received anything. When I got back to the hotel, I asked my agent if I could see the contract, but he said he didn’t have it. I was stunned, because the President told me that he did,” Osimhen explained.
“Eventually, he showed me a piece of paper with some pseudo-agreement with Napoli. I got angry and wanted to return to France. I asked Lopez for a week to rest and went to Paris. Once I returned to Lille, I decided to break off my working relationship with that agent.”
Determined to take back control of his career, Osimhen later turned to another representative, William D’Avila, to finalise the transfer.
“Seeing that Napoli really were interested, I asked William D’Avila to take care of my transfer. Towards the end of July, I signed the contract in Lille, in the presence of Maurizio Micheli for Napoli, and amongst others D’Avila, Lopez, Ingla, Calenda and Cros,” he said.
Osimhen went on to become one of Napoli’s most influential players in recent history, leading the club to their first Serie A title in over three decades in 2023.