The Nigerian was meant to join Real Madrid, PSG or an elite English club this summer – but he’s ended up at a Europa League team instead
Victor Osimhen was a man with a plan. He may have signed a new contract with Napoli last December in order to significantly increase his salary, but he never had any intention of staying at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona beyond the end of the 2023-24 campaign.
The striker knew where he wanted to go and, more importantly, how he was going to get there. “Since I’ve started [playing professionally], I’ve been the one making my own decisions,” he told CBS Sports in January, “and everything is working out well for me.” Not anymore, though.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Osimhen was given a rapturous welcome after arriving in Istanbul ahead of the completion of his loan move to Galatasaray. He may have been all smiles – but this was not part of the plan. This was a most unexpected humiliation, an utterly calamitous conclusion to a transfer saga involving Osimhen and Napoli that has yielded no winners – only losers.
Extension that wasn’t really an extension
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis admitted in January that the club had known since last summer that Osimhen wanted out – and they were willing to let him go, too. Just not right away.
De Laurentiis understandably didn’t want to sell Osimhen immediately after the striker had scored 26 times to finish as the capocannoniere at the end of a historic Serie A title triumph. Osimhen, for his part, was willing to spend another year playing for a club and fanbase that had shown him so much love and support since his arrival from Lille in 2020.
So, after painfully protracted negotiations a compromise was reached: Osimhen would sign a contract extension until 2026 and see his salary rise to approximately €11m (£9m/$12m) per annum, but the new deal would also feature a buyout clause of €120m (£100m/$130m), which was significant as De Laurentiis had claimed during the summer of 2023 that it would take an offer of €200m (£170m/$220m) for him to even consider parting with his most valuable asset.
According to reports, he had even turned down a €140m (£120m/$154m) offer from Al-Hilal. But De Laurentiis was happy to accept slightly less money if he meant getting another season out of Osimhen, and there was not a doubt in his mind that a top European team would meet the fixed asking price.
Indeed, in January, the Partenopei president went so far as to publicly proclaim that Osimhen would join “Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain or an English team” during the 2024 summer transfer window. So, how on earth did he end up in Istanbul instead? A combination of greed, pride and complete incompetence.
Less money, more problems
It quickly became clear that this summer’s transfer market would not be awash with the same amount of money as last year for a couple of key reasons.
Firstly, most English clubs were wary of breaching the Premier League’s Profit & Sustainability Rules (PSR), which had resulted in both Everton (twice) and Nottingham Forest being deducted points last season.
Secondly, the Saudi Pro League clubs backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) were more focused on retaining the stars they signed last summer, rather than buying new ones, which meant less money flowing into European football.
This minor depression of the market could not have come at a worse time for Napoli and Osimhen.
No bids from Madrid or Paris
Even though Madrid had more need of an orthodox centre-forward than another left winger, they prioritised signing Kylian Mbappe over Osimhen – and had no money left to further strengthen their attack after committing so much money to bringing the France captain to Santiago Bernabeu.
As for PSG, the nature of their project had already shifted significantly. Under Luis Campos, they’re now prioritising potential rather than established stars, as underlined by the acquisitions of Joao Neves and Desire Doue.
And while Goncalo Ramos was ruled out of the first couple of months of the season, PSG felt that they still had sufficient options up front to cope without the Portugal international. Based on what we’ve seen so far from Luis Enrique’s team this term, they were right, with the French champions having scored 13 times in their first three games.
Wage demands ruled out EPL clubs
Of course, there was still Premier League interest in Osimhen, who has never hidden his desire to play in England. According to reports, Liverpool explored the possibility of signing Osimhen but were put off by his wage demands, thus immediately scuppering any hope of a move to a team that already looks capable of doing some serious damage in both the Premier League and Champions League under Arne Slot this season.
Chelsea, by contrast, tried until deadline day to get a deal done but, again, could not agree terms with Osimhen. The Blues may be willing to throw plenty of money around, but their wild recruitment strategy is founded upon signing players on long contracts but relatively low wages.
Consequently, Osimhen appeared almost certain to move to the Middle East, but a transfer to Al-Ahli collapsed because Napoli allegedly tried to increase the agreed fee at the last minute, prompting the enraged Saudi side to pull out of the deal.
Both Napoli and Osimhen were, therefore, left with no option to thrash out a loan agreement with Galatasaray that will, at least, give both parties a chance to find a far more agreeable conclusion to this affair either in January or next summer.
Counting the cost of hubris
However, the fact that it’s come to this is an absolute shambles, and reflects horribly on everyone involved: the club, the player and his agent.
De Laurentiis never should have so flagrantly flagged the fact that Osimhen was leaving unless he already had a buyer lined up. He has paid a heavy price for his hubris and lack of foresight, as interested parties tried to take advantage of Napoli’s mounting desperation to sell their wantaway striker.
Osimhen’s continued presence at the club also stalled their own recruitment strategy for more than a month – much to the frustration of new coach Antonio Conte – and the best-case scenario for Napoli now is recouping the €70m they paid to sign Osimhen from Lille when they had hoped to make just under double that figure.
Embarrassing step down
As for Osimhen, he can use all of the superlatives he wants to describe Galatasaray and their famously fanatical supporters, but this is an embarrassing step down in class for one of the game’s best No.9s. Even if it is only a temporary transfer, Osimhen is simply too good to have ended up in Turkey.
After all, the initial reason for his reluctance to join a Saudi Pro League side was his desire to play in the Champions League and even his representative, Roberto Calenda, pointed out in one bitter attack on Napoli for trying to hawk the No.9 to the highest bidder that there was “still much to do in Europe” for his client.
However, while Osimhen is still in Europe, he’s now joined a club that just got knocked out in the play-off round of this season’s tournament by Young Boys of Switzerland. It’s also worth remembering that just eight months ago he reacted furiously to the suggestion that he would move to Saudi Arabia this summer – and yet he was on the verge of doing precisely that until Al-Ahli withdrew their interest.
Now, he’s neither got the bumper pay packet on offer in the Middle East nor the prestigious switch to one of Europe’s elite he so desperately wanted.
Perhaps most depressingly of all for such a likeable character who overcame so much hardship and heartbreak growing up in Lagos to become a hero in Naples, Osimhen has ruined the remarkable relationship he had cultivated with the city and its fans by exiting in such sorry fashion.
Questions clearly need to be asked of his agent, as Osimhen not been well advised here at all, while Napoli have also played their part in this perfect sh*tstorm. But Osimhen was the man with the plan, so the fact that it’s been left in tatters is sadly all on him.
Goal.com
