Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen joins Ligue 1 side Lille on a 5-year-contract
Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has joined Ligue 1 club Lille on a five-year contract from Belgian side Sporting Charleroi.
Osimhen was on Thursday, August 1 unveiled by the club and has been given the No 7. Jersey.
“The LOSC is a very good club that leads a quality project and includes high-class players, even more in recent years.” the 20-year-old striker said in a statement on Lille's website.
“Great Nigerian players have also played here. I would like to join their lineage and follow their footsteps.
“I am very happy to be here and to join this great club that is the LOSC. I am still young, I am learning and I think that this project suits me perfectly to continue to progress.”
Impressive loan stint
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Osihmen was signed by Lille after the impressive year he had in Belgium with Sporting Charleroi last season.
The 20-year-old scored 12 goals in 25 appearances to take the club to the brink of Europa League qualification and was named the club’s Player of the Year.
“We welcome Victor Osimhen today with a lot of fun. He is a player with great potential who has already demonstrated his value and his ability to establish himself as a good scorer in a nearby league, in Belgium, which can also facilitate his integration,” Lille’s Director-General Marc Ingla said in a statement on the club’s website.
“Victor is a fast forward player with a very vertical game, great physical abilities and a real intuition in front of the goal. Despite his young age, he is already international in Nigeria.
“He goes one step at a time, which allows him to consolidate his nascent fame in the world football landscape. It will be our job and especially that of the technical staff to help maintain this progress.”
Career rise
Osimhen had initially joined Charleroi on a loan deal from Wolfsburg before he was signed to a permanent contract after an impressive year in Belgium.
The move to Lille continues Osimhen’s rise after his career initially stalled at Wolfsburg, the club he joined after he broke out at the 2015 FIFA U17 World Cup.
Osimhen snagged the limelight after he scored 10 goals and took home the Golden Boot as the highest goalscorer and Silver Ball as the second-best player of the tournament which Nigeria won in Chile.
The Nigeria international started his career in Lagos at the Ultimate Strikers Academy before he was selected to play for the Golden Eaglets at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
With several clubs jostling for his signature, the youngster signed for Wolfsburg in January 2017 where he struggled with injuries and fitness.
He had trials with Zulte Waregem and Club Brugge which were unsuccessful after he failed to impress but Charleroi took a chance on him.
Osimhen has four Super Eagles cap after making his debut in a friendly game against Togo in June 2017.
He played one game as Nigeria won the bronze medal at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).