This man guarantees goals. He is one of the best strikers in the world. And some of the largest clubs in the Premier League urgently need a center-forward. It is a transfer comparison that should have a very obvious solution. Buy Victor Osimhen.
Instead, Chelsea has already moved to bring in Liam Delap after an impressive season with Ipswich. Viktor Gyokees, Benjamin Sesko and Hugo Ekitike are all names linked to a move to England, because Premier League teams try to strengthen this key position.
In the midst of all speculation, Osimhen lurks in the background talking about moving to Saudi Arabia or perhaps an extension of his loan residence in Galatasaray. With only one year about his contract in Napoli, a return to the Serie A champions is already excluded.
He remains the same formidable figure that Napoli has fired on their first title since the days of Diego Maradona. Series A's player of the year before 2023, he finished eighth in the Ballon d'Or voice of that year. Last season, his 37 goals galatasaray brought to a domestic double.
It feels vague that a player who, at the age of 26, is apparently in his prime, can be considered too old to throw money to, but the days that Chelsea break the British transfer record to bring Andriy Shevchenko, just at his 30th birthday, have long since disappeared.
A deal would be complicated and expensive due to interest from the East. The younger options are the cheaper options. They also offer resale value. None of this means that even the buyers think that these alternatives will score more than Nigeria's No. 9.
Acacio Santos collaborated with Osimhen as an assistant to Jose Peseiro with the Super Eagles. He is clear in his opinion. “Of course I respect Galatasaray,” Santos tells Sky Sports. “But Victor deserves to be in the Premier League, where the light would shine on him.”
The Portuguese coach saw what makes him so special, why he was the kind of character that was able to help Napoli to that historical title. “Victor is calm before he trains, in his own world. But when the session starts, he wants to win everything.”
Santos has stories about Osimhen who takes that too far. “It was incredible to look – and as an assistant – coach I was normally the man with the whistle,” he says. “His teammates would say:” Victor, it's a training exercise. ” He would say, “No, we have to win.” “
He describes a player who is “very competitive, very demanding from his colleagues” – pointing out that “this is just his mentality” – but Santos saw the other side to Osimhen. The qualities that ensure that he was more often or not able to bring players.
“A day before the game, Vorror had a bit of a fight with Emmanuel Dennis in a seven-to-do practice. This player relaxed a bit, a bit cooled. This was normal because there was a game the next day. But Victor wanted more. He was so demanding.
“We were a bit surprised by his attitude. It was good. We liked it. But we thought he might have to calm down. The next day he scored four goals.” They came up with a record-breaking 10-0 win over Sao Tome and principle was in the summer of 2023.
“After scoring his four goals, we suddenly had a penalty. Everyone expected Victor to take the ball for the fifth. But no, Victor gave the ball to Dennis, the teammate he had fought the day before who had never scored for the national team.
“This is an example that you tell a lot about Victor Osimhen. Instead of having five goals, he preferred to give his teammate his first goal. Others like to talk in the dressing room. Victor is a leader through his behavior, through his work, through his example.”
His self -confidence is extraordinary. Santos regards this as one of the factors that separates the very best strikers from the rest, that ability to abolish the Miss and go in search of the following occasion, regardless of. There is a sentence for it. “Mental endurance,” he calls it.
“It is the time you waste after making an error. If your mental endurance is not strong, that is not good because you will waste a lot of time as a victim of your own fault. If the time you waste is short, you have a strong mental endurance.
'Victor has this power. He doesn't care if he makes a mistake. He wants to fight again. This is a big thing because it also influences your biology. Your body will tell you: 'Okay, I have to fight again, I have to do more, I can't waste time. “”
The irony is of course that waste is exactly how the critics of Osimhen – even some of his greatest fans – can see his career choices so far. Stories from a player with exceptional drive are not necessarily easy to make it easy to make the cumbersome path he has started.
For all the fact that Santos describes a player who is almost the complete Center forward – “he is also very fast and very strong physical” – even an old admirer like his former coach can appreciate that Osimhen's career is now at the intersection.
Galatasaray is a famous club, but the Turkish Super Lig ranks between the competitions of the Czech Republic and Norway in the UEFA Club -Coëfficients. He can plunder in these lesser competitions, winning trophies and admiration. Or test themselves in the most difficult matches.
“It shows his professionalism in winning the championship in Turkey because it was not easy against Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce. But I am pretty sure that he should go to another challenge next season, a different championship. Victor needs this,” Santos argues.
“He has to go to a more challenging environment, an environment that will give him what he needs.” And what is that? “He has to create those moments of challenge for him to grow as a player. If he does, he will give 120 percent of what he has inside.”
This idea of ​​growth is the key. And the risk is that if Osimhen will not test himself quickly, then nobody – including – will ever really realize how good he could be. “Our message to him was unleashed from your strength, unleash your strength,” Santos continues.
By that he means that he constantly encouraged Osimhen to show more of what he could do. “The confidence in your skills and believing that it is possible to do even more are two different things. Cristiano Ronaldo is the perfect example of that,” he explains.
“He was always very confident in himself, but he still needed Sir Alex Ferguson and then Mourinho to tell him that he could do more, that he could achieve more, that if he would add these small ingredients, he could even become better than he thought possible.”
Still time for Osimhen
There is still time for Osimhen to prove it. “When Ronaldo was 30, people spoke about losing speed, losing agility, and then he started scored more than 400 goals after turning 30. We should see with Victor biologically. But mentally he is top level.”
The next step could dictate his legacy and there is sympathy if he simply accepts the best financial offer that comes on its way. “Victor is a modest guy from the streets of Lagos. Football was a possibility for him to be a little safer, let's say it that way.”
But the thought remains, what if the best striker on the market at the moment wanted a shot at the Premier League? “We saw him in Italy and in Turkey. It would be harder in England, more intense,” Santos adds. “But I think everyone wants to see him there.”