Victor James Osimhen MFR was born on 29 December 1998 and is a Nigerian professional footballer. He currently plays as a striker for Seria A club Napoli, as well as the Nigeria National team. Furthermore, Osimhen is among the best strikers in the world, and he is well-known for his elite finishing, pace, strength, and athleticism.
Victor Osimhen is a Nigerian footballer who started his senior career with VFL Wolfsburg in Germany in 2017. He later joined Lille in France and made his European debut in the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League. In 2020, he moved to Napoli in Serie A for a club-record fee of €70 million. He won the Serie A Best Young Player award in the 2021-22 season and helped Napoli win their first Serie A title in 33 years in the following season. Osimhen is the highest-scoring African in Serie A and holds the record for the most goals scored by an African in a single season.
| Full Name: | Victor James Osimhen |
| Date of Birth/Age: | 29 December 1998/25 |
| Place of Birth: | Oregun/Ojota of Lagos State |
| Parents: | Late Elder Patrick and late Mrs. Patrick Osimhen |
| Siblings: | 5 |
| Height: | 6ft’1inch |
| Salary: | £112,000 weekly |
| Net Worth: | $2,000,000 |
| Instagram: | @victorosimhen9 |
| Twitter: | @victorosimhen9 |
| Current team | Napoli |
Victor Osimhem’s Achievements
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Osimhen won the Golden Boot at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup and played for Nigeria in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. Also, he is currently the fourth-highest goal scorer for the Nigerian national team and became a Member of the Federal Republic by President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, 2023.
Also, on 11 December 2023, Osimhen became the Best Male Player of the Year in Africa at the 2023 CAF award night, the first Nigerian since Kanu Nnamkwo in 1999, 24 years earlier. He ranked number 8 in the 2023 Ballon d’Or award held in Paris, France, He became the first Nigerian to make the top ten of the Ballon d’Or.
Furthermore, on the 11th of December, 2023, Osimhen became the Best Male Player of the Year in Africa at the 2023 CAF award night, the first Nigerian since Kanu Nnamkwo in 1999.
Early Life of Victor Osimhen
Osimhen was born in Lagos to parents from Edo State. He grew up in the Olusosun area in Oregun/Ojota of Lagos State. Growing up, his football idol was Didier Drogba.
Osimhen’s Club Career
Osimhen began his career at the Ultimate Strikers Academy in Lagos, Nigeria.
Victor Osimhen Plays for VfL Wolfsburg
In 2017, Osimhen signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with Wolfsburg. He made his Bundesliga debut in May, appearing in 5 games that season. Osimhen played his first full match against Hannover in January 2018 and made two more starts for Wolfsburg that season. He missed out on the relegation playoff due to injury. Therefore, he underwent shoulder surgery in May 2018, ending his season with 12 Bundesliga appearances.
Osimhen Joins Charleroi on Loan Deal
Victor Osimhen joined Belgian club Charleroi on a season-long loan in 2018 after failing to score in any of his 16 appearances with Wolfsburg. Osimhen scored 20 goals in 36 games and Charleroi activated their option to acquire him following his satisfactory performances while on loan.
Lille
Osimhen playing for Lille in 2019
Despite being a reported target of several European clubs, French Ligue 1 club Lille confirmed the transfer of Osimhen on 1 August 2019, signing a five-year contract. The transfer fee was reportedly at €12 million plus another €3m in various bonuses and add-ons. Upon his arrival, he told the club’s official website: “Lille is a very good club with a quality project and high-class players, especially these last years. Great Nigerian players (Peter Odemwingie and Vincent Enyeama) have also played here.”
Ten days after the move, he made his Ligue 1 debut for the club on 11 August, scoring a brace in a 2–1 win against Nantes. Two weeks later, he scored another brace in a 3–0 home win against Saint-Étienne for his third game in France, his performance earning him a rating of 8/10 in French sports newspaper L’Équipe.
Osimhen was named the Ligue 1 Player of the Month for September 2019, having scored two goals and assisted two more in Lille’s five league matches. He then scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League on 2 October 2019, coming in a 1–2 home defeat to English side Chelsea. In March, a report published by the league showed that Osimhen was the player who has most broken the 35 km/h (21.75 mph) barrier with seven sprints above this speed, ahead of Kylian Mbappé. The Nigerian finished the season as Lille’s top scorer, with 13 goals in 25 domestic championship matches, and 18 goals across all competitions.
His good season and strong goalscoring performances earned him the 2020 Prix Marc-Vivien Foé, a prize awarded to the best African player in the French championship, and saw Osimhen tipped by many to be in the running for the African Footballer of the Year award shortly. On 2 June 2020, he was awarded Lille’s Player of the Season, having secured the highest number of votes from fans.
Victor Osimhen Finally Arrives at Napoli
2020–22: First seasons adjustments
On 31 July 2020, Serie A club Napoli announced the signing of Osimhen, for a club-record fee of €70 million potentially rising to €80 million with add-ons, making him the most expensive African transfer to date. On 17 October, He also scored his first goal for Napoli in a 4–1 win against Atalanta. Upon scoring, he held up a shirt calling for the ending of the ongoing police brutality in his home country of Nigeria.
On 13 November, during an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game played whilst on an international break with Nigeria, Osimhen was stretchered off injured. This was then diagnosed as a shoulder injury that would keep Osimhen away from the playing field for two months.
While recovering from the injury, Osimhen was authorized by his club to spend time in his home country, where he got a chance to celebrate his birthday. It was during these birthday celebrations that it is believed Osimhen contracted the COVID-19 virus, as he tested positive upon returning to Naples. This positive test, together with his shoulder injury, kept Osimhen away from action until his return to the side on 29 January 2021, when he was subbed on for around twenty minutes of Napoli’s Coppa Italia win against Spezia. On 16 September 2021, Osimhen scored a brace in a 2–2 away draw against Leicester City in the Europa League group stage. In November 2021, Osimhen suffered a horrific head injury and a fractured skull and eye socket in Napoli’s 3–2 loss to Inter Milan at San Siro. He underwent immediate surgery and was forced to miss the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. He has been wearing a protective mask since and by the end of the season, he scored 14 goals in Serie A and 18 in all competitions
2022–23: Breakthrough and Serie A title
On 12 October 2022, Osimhen scored his first Champions League goal with Napoli in a 4–2 win over Ajax, which secured their qualification to the knockout phase. On 29 October, he scored his first Serie A hat-trick in a 4–0 win over Sassuolo. Furthermore, on 11 November, he scored a goal and assisted another to help Napoli win 2–1 at Atalanta, becoming Nigeria’s highest goal scorer in the Italian Serie A with 32 goals, and surpassing Simy’s record of 31.
On 13 January 2023, Osimhen scored two and assisted another as Napoli beat Juventus 5–1. On 17 February 2023, he scored his 100th career goal to help Napoli win 2–0 at Sassuolo. He also became the first-ever player in the history of Napoli in the three-point era to score in seven league games in a row. In the Champions League round of 16, Osimhen scored three goals over two legs for Napoli against Eintracht Frankfurt, which ended in a 5–0 win on aggregate and a first-time qualification to the quarter-finals.
On 4 May, he scored the equalizer in a 1–1 draw with Udinese, confirming Napoli as Serie A champions for the first time in 33 years. His goal made him the joint-highest goalscoring African in the Serie A alongside George Weah and the African player with the most goals in a single Italian championship season, breaking Samuel Eto’o’s record in the process. Three days later, he scored the winning goal from a penalty in a 1–0 victory over Fiorentina, to become the highest-scoring African player in Serie A with 47 goals, overtaking Weah’s record. He finished the season as the top scorer with 26 goals, being the first African to achieve this feat. On 23 December 2023, Osimhen extended his contract with Napoli until 2026, with a new release clause set at €130 million.
International career of Victor Osimhen
Osimhen was a member of the Nigeria under-17 team that won the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile. He scored 10 goals in seven games at the tournament and won the Golden Boot and Silver Ball awards. His performances also earned him the CAF Youth Player of the Year award in 2015.
Osimhen made his official senior debut for Nigeria in a 2–0 defeat against South Africa on 10 June 2017. He missed out on Nigeria’s 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign after his inconsistent season at Wolfsburg. Following a successful start to his loan spell at Charleroi, he was recalled by Gernot Rohr for the November 2018 international break, starting their friendly win over Uganda.
In March 2019, Osimhen was released from the Super Eagles squad to represent the Nigerian U23 side as they were two goals down against their Libyan opponent. He scored three goals in the return match against Libya in Asaba.
Osimhen was listed in coach Gernot Rohr’s 25-man provisional list for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Egypt, and was further listed in the final list for the tournament. In the match for third place, he replaced the injured Odion Ighalo at half-time in the team’s 1–0 victory over Tunisia. He played a total of 45 minutes at the tournament. The Super Eagles ended the 2021 AFCON qualifiers on a high, beating Lesotho 3–0. However, Osimhen missed the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations supposedly due to COVID‑19 as claimed by his club. This claim provoked a response from a sports lawyer in Nigeria who wrote to express his dismay at the alleged intention of Osimhen’s club side, Napoli, to deprive Nigeria of the services of their star striker. The Napoli owner, Aurelio De Laurentiis, angered many Africans when he said he would no longer sign African players unless they agreed to sign a waiver to not participate in the AFCON
Who is Victor Osimhen’s Girlfriend?
Victor Osimhen is currently dating a German lady known as Stefanie Kim Ladewig.
The pair are understood to have met during Osimhen’s playing days at Bundesliga club VFL Wolfsburg. Osimhen and Stefanie fell in love as the German lady was a cheerleader for Wolfsburg at the time.
Furthermore, it is not known the exact time the pair started their relationship.
Osimhen and Stefanie have been together ever since and the 24-year-old Super Eagles star reportedly has a daughter with Stefanie.
Lastly, the couple reportedly welcomed their first child, a baby girl in 2022, and named her Hailey.
Victor Osimhen’s Net Worth in 2023
The Napoli star is one of the richest Super Eagles players in 2023, having played top-flight European football for over a decade.
He is estimated to have a net worth of $2 million and the 24-year-old Super Eagles striker boasts a market value of €100m as of March 2023 via Transfermrkt.
Therefore, Osimhen makes most of his money by playing football and signing brand ambassadorship deals.
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