Victor Osimhen: The Striker Every Club Should Want

It feels as if there is real lack of strikers at the top level in football at the moment with just lots of talented youngsters and some strikers coming towards the end of their careers. But who is the striker that everyone should want if they can afford him and why? Victor Osimhen. He gained interest in Europe after impressing in the 2015 FIFA U-17 World cup as he got the golden boot. But how did he get from there to one off the best strikers in Europe and the answer to your clubs striker problem?

Die Wölfe

2016/17

Osimhen began his professional career at German side Wolfsburg in the 16/17 season, after impressing in the u-17 World cup. This was the year he made his breakthrough not the first tam in the Bundesliga. It was a campaign where the young forward (17) was on the peripherals of the squad for the campaign.

He eventually made his first appearance in the closing games of the season, where he played half an hour vs Borussia Monchengladbach. This was just one of his 2 cameos off the bench in the league that year but did make another in the relegation playoffs where his side triumphed to remain in the top flight. It was tough for the forward to massively in limited minutes at a young age but he did enough to remain around the squad for the following year.

2017/18

The Next year he took a positive step making 12 appearances in the league with an extra one in the DFB Pokal totalling to 278 minutes. This was a year where he became more useful as a member of the squad making appearances in wide areas and centrally for his side. He didn’t manage to get a goal or an assist, but did get closer than the previous year taking 8 shots (2 on target).

He began to struggle with a shoulder injury towards the end of the season which came at an unfortunate time as the forward was beginning to get more game time. This along with other forwards at the club really limited his game time in the closing stages of the season. On the positive side his performance in youth levels internationally had meant that he had earned a call up for the Nigeria first team making his competitive debut against South Africa.

Les Zèbres

2018/19

The 19 year old was no longer considered to be valuable to Wolfsburg as he left the club to join Belgium side Charleroi on loan for the year which was to become permanent at the close of the year for €3.4 Million. This gave the 19 year old forward a chance to prove himself in a side wheeer he could see himself getting regular minutes in a league he could really shine. This was the case as he made a total of 36 appearances in all competitions and scored 20 goals and got 4 assists in his 2900 minutes.

He made his first two appearances off of the bench but impressed enough to start the next 8 where he helped himself to 6 goals three centrally and 3 from the Left Wing. He then scored another goal from he bench and played all available minutes from December the 9th in the regular season scoring goals here and there for his side. This meant he was the 3rrd top goalscorere across the domestic campaign with 19 goals and was the top appearance maker in attack for his side at just 19. He began to show his ability to play as a 9 as he was taking 3.7 shots a game and was on the end of 6.44 Progressive carries a game.

Les Dogues

2019/20

Charleroi thought they had stuck gold as the striker signer in July 2019 for a fee of just €3.4 Million but it wasn’t for a while. The strikers performances in that year had drawn interest all across Europe but the forward decided to move to France to play for Lille for a fee of €22.4 Million just one month later. The forward had made a hefty profit for his side and within a year of being shipped out from Wolfsburg he was playing in a top 5 league and was coming in as a starter.

The forward had another excellent campaign with him making 33 appearances across the French competitions an 5 more in the Champions League. He managed to net another 18 goals (2 in the Champions League)showing he dealt with the step up well and got a further 6 assists for his teammates. He scored 2 goals on his debut which endeared him to the fans and locked down his position early for himself. He was a consistent scorer for his team not being patchy and was reliable with scoring throughout the whole year.

He was vital for his side being the top scorer, 2nd highest appearance maker and the only player in double figures for goals and assists in the league. The side scored 35 goals in the league and he was directly involved in around half of these. He was key for his side reaching 4th place but was also crucial for his country in AFCON qualification. Here he was involved in a further 11 goals becoming a figure head for his side.

I Ciucciarelli

2020/21

Like the year before the forward had begun to turn heads across Europe as he continued his meteoric rise to become one of the best strikers within the game. This summer it was Napoli who won the race to sign the forward and had to spend an eye watering €75 Million to secure his service. He was bought as the long term heir to the likes of Higuain and Cavani who had been the figure heads of the previous decade, with the striker at Napoli being a hero I they do the business.

The forward had a steady first year where he made 24 league appearances scoring 10 goals and gaining 3 assists. This is a great year for a young striker playing for a huge team but he would have felt underwhelmed with how it unfolded and compared to his previous years. In his first 6 matches he started 5 games and managed to score 2 goals for the team.

His progress was then stunted as he picked up a shoulder injury in late November that Ruled him out until mid-January. This meant that he didn’t get back into the starting line up until the middle of February, but then he picked up a head injury that meant that he didn’t start again until early April, where he scored. After this the striker finished the season excellently scoring 7 in 10 showing the Napoli fans what the can expect frm a fi and settled Osimhen.

2021/22

After an Injury hit campaign where his side had finished 5th the striker wanted to kick on and was playing his first consecutive season of 1st team football at the same club. This meant h was settled and could kick on, which he did. The Striker made a total of 32 appearances, scoring 18 goals and 6 assists across all competitions. 14 of these goals were in the league, but he was also prolific n Europe scoring 4 in 5 appearances, notably for English fans 2 away at Leicester.

Despite him having a positive campaign it didn’t stsart in the best way as the forward was sent off just 23 minutes into the league season. When he returned from suspension the striker then drew blank in his next game. But after this there was no stopping him as he scored 5 in 5 whilst grabbing 1 assist. This came to an end as he then didn’t score in the next 5 games, with him missing one of these through a calf strain.

Then the only thing that can stop him struck again, with another injury in November which ruled him out once again to the middle of January. This mean that for the second season he had missed a crucial part of the season. But this didn’t stop the forward as when he returned he score 2 and got an assist in his first games back. After a couple of games without a goal he then ended the season strong again making up for lost time scoring 7 and assisting 2 in 8 starts.

Despite another disrupted campaign, he finished the year as the clubs top scorer, guiding his side to a 3rd place finish, 7 points off of the summit. He was that impressive this year and especially at the close that he won the Serie A best young player award.

33 anni di attesa

2022/23

The season that has defined Osimhen and has made sure he will be remembered in the history of the game is the 22/23 season where he and his teammates guided Napoli to a historic league title. Despite it bring a teammate Osimhen was one of the key figure heads as he needed to fill the void of both insigne and Mertens leaving, and he did alongside the young Georgian winger Kvaratskhelia.

The forward Was fundamental in his side winning the league by 16 points as he was the top scorer scoring 26 league goals. In total in his 39 appearances the striker scored 31 goals and got 5 assists. The key feature of the year was the fact that he managed to stay fit for most of the year accruing a total of 3000 minutes. He started the season where he finished the last one with a goal and an assist on the opening day and he also scored in week two.

The Napoli fans feared the wors when the sticker was injured in September as he missed a month, but the side kept winning. When he returned he scored in all but 2 of his next 15 games with a total of 17 goals and 3 assists. This was crucial for Napoli as it allowed them to pull away and he was the main cause. This is evident as the two games he didn’t score the side lost, and their other defeat came in a game he missed due to injury. His highlights came when he scored a hattrick vs Sassuolo and 2 big goals against Juventus.

He was also key in his side reaching the Champions League quarter final. But the side unfortunately went ou thanks to a 1–0 defat in the first leg when the striker didn’t play. Yet another game where the side failed to score without the forward. He put his name in lights as was named the best striker in the league, being the top goalscorer, and it also meant he finished 8th in the 2023 Ballon d’or.

The Future

This year the striker has had a stop start season with injuries and off th field issues But has still managed to be the clubs top scorer 8 goals in just 18 matches in all comps. He is part of a team that have dropped to 9th place and have really struggled this campaign and the perception from the outside is that the striker may want to move on.

With his contract originally up in 2025 Napoli agreed a deal to tie the forward down to 2026. However in this contract, that doubled his wage, there is a release clause of €120–130 Millions, which provides a way out for the forward. This is an astronomical fee but with clubs across Europe needing a striker this fee may be paid in the summer. If you can get him fit he will definitely provide great value for money and a lot of service with his age profile. This could be a huge move to look at in the summer but where will he go?