Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has revealed that he was pressured into signing for Napoli in 2020 while his father was dying; claiming agents and club officials forced the transfer without his consent.
The Nigerian striker in a testimony with Italy’s Guardia di Finanza, which was leaked by La Repubblica, said he had no access to a draft of his contract and felt ignored during negotiations led by Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis and Lille officials.
Osimhen’s transfer from Lille to Napoli in the 2020 summer became one of Europe’s biggest moves but also one of its most controversial.
The leaked testimony stated that Osimhen recounted the story to authorities amid an ongoing capital gains probe into the €70m deal.
My previous agent, Jean Gerard, had expressed serious interest from Napoli, but he was only interested in my transfer and not in my father’s health. At that time, I didn’t have the head to think about football; I just wanted to know how he was doing,” the striker said.
“Gerard called me to meet him in Nice. Luis Campos and Lille president Gerard Lopez were also there. They told me I should move to Napoli, that there was already an agreement in principle and that, due to the pandemic, it was a good opportunity for Lille. But I knew nothing about it.”
The report added that when Osimhen’s transfer was getting negotiated, his father died, and this angered the Nigerian more as he was unable to see him in the days prior to his death.
I was extremely angry with Lille and my told me I would have to leave for Naples the next day, without even realising my father’s death,” he added.
“I went to Naples anyway, but I wouldn’t have signed anything. I met with the coach, who explained the project to me, and the next day with De Laurentiis in Capri. He told me about the city and the club, but I didn’t understand what he was saying to Giuntoli because they were speaking in Italian. He asked me if I had seen the contract, but I hadn’t received anything.”
The leaked interview by La Repubblica added that as negotiations dragged on, Osimhen’s frustration deepened. When he asked his agent to show him a draft of the Napoli contract, he was told none existed, despite club president De Laurentiis insisting otherwise.
Instead, his agent later produced what Osimhen described as “a piece of paper, a pseudo-agreement with Napoli.” Feeling deceived, the striker wanted to return to France and take a break from the chaos.
He eventually cut ties with his agent and brought in William D’Avila to handle the talks.
Towards the end of July 2020, the deal was finally signed in Lille in the presence of Napoli official Maurizio Micheli, Lille executives, and Roberto Calenda, the man who would later become Osimhen’s new representative.
“Towards the end of July, I signed the contract in Lille, in the presence of Maurizio Micheli for Napoli and, among others, D’Avila, Lopez, Ingla, Calenda, and Cros,” Osimhen recalled.
