SUPER Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has provided details of his side of the story as part of an investigation into his controversial transfer from Lille to Napoli in 2020.
The official cost of the move for the Nigeria international was around €80 million, but the value was believed to have been illegally inflated and police got involved in the investigation.
Although Napoli were cleared of wrongdoing and the sporting investigation shelved, the Italian financial police are continuing their focus on the shady deal struck between the two clubs.
As part of the evidence presented to request a full trial for false accounting, certain WhatsApp communications between Napoli and Lille figures were published this week by La Repubblica newspaper.
They have also now released excerpts from the interview that Osimhen, now with Galatasaray, gave to the investigators about the 2020 transfer.
“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 of his then representative Jean Gerard.
“Gerard called me to come and meet him in Nice, where we met with Luis Campos and Lille President Gerard Lopez.
“They told me I had to move to Napoli, that there was already an agreement in place and, due to the (Covid) pandemic, this was a good opportunity for Lille. But I didn’t know about any of it.”
Just a few days later, Osimhen’s father sadly passed away, and the Super Eagles star was distraught.
“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,” Osimhen explained.
“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.”
When Osimhen did fly out to Naples to visit his future club, there were more confusing developments that led to a breakdown in his relationship with Jean Gerard.
Osimhen added: “Out of respect for the Lille President, I went to Naples anyway, but I was not ready to sign anything.
“I met the coach, who explained the project, and then the day after President Aurelio De Laurentiis in Capri.
“He told me about the city and the club, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying with (director Cristiano) Giuntoli, because they spoke in Italian.
“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.
“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.”
Despite the setbacks, and weeks of negotiations between the clubs with two different agents, Osimhen did eventually move to Napoli for what was €80m on paper.
The argument made by the investigators is that the figure was really €50m plus the vastly inflated values of goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis and three youth team players.
“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,” Osimhen noted.
Roberto Calenda would go on to become Osimhen’s agent in future, but it seems their rapport started before that.
“In December 2021, I asked Calenda for a loan of €550,000 for family expenses, which I promised to return.”
Osimhen spent four full seasons at Napoli, registering 76 goals and 18 assists in 133 appearances, helping then to win their first Serie A title in over 30 years in 2023.
He fell out with the Napoli hierarchy in 2024 and was loaned out to Galatasaray before making the move permanent for €75m this year.