Retired Super Eagles striker Brown Ideye has advised Victor Osimhen to consider joining Saudi Arabian club Ahli despite interest from Chelsea, Soccernet.ng reports.
Osimhen looks set to leave Napoli after four years at the club. The 25-year-old striker has risen to global prominence due to his impressive performances for the Partenopeans.
Osimhen has registered 76 goals and 18 assists in 133 games for Napoli, prompting some of the top European clubs to pick interest in him.
The Nigerian already had an agreement with Napoli that he would leave this summer, but the issue has grabbed on for way too long.
PSG, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Al Ahli appear to be the frontrunners for the transfers, but none of them has been able to seal the deal.
Al Ahli, just like most Saudi Arabain clubs are hoping to convince Osimhen with a bumper offer. However, a move to a European club will give the Super Eagles star a shot at top-level football.
Meanwhile, former Super Eagles hero, Ideye who was part of Nigeria's 2013 Africa Cup of Nations winning squad has advised Osimhen to prioritize money now and join Al Ahli.
“If I’m him(Osimhen), I will go to Saudi, play two years, then go back to Europe. He’s still young,” Ideye said on his X page.
“Some players are doing that, I don’t know why his agent doesn't want to allow him to take a pay cut and play in his dream club Chelsea, I think it’s more than we read online.
“You can’t feed your family with trophy, we all played football because that’s the only way out of the hood, we want to have all the good things in life and take care of our family.
As it stands, no agreement has been reached, but Osimhen's next destination should be revealed within the next 72 hours.
thank God you are not him, I see you are very shallow in your thinking, which one should come first, money or carrier. keep your advice to yourself or else I see you as one of those that are jealous of his carrier. That’s why you didn’t go far in your carrier, when your priority was money instead of building carrier. You are nothing but a confusion st.
i think that now that Victor is very young he should go for career and when he have archive a lot’s of trophies from many clubs he can then go for money, maybe when he is 32,23,year’s old upwards. thanks
Then he should throw away his AFCON medal away. Jealousy go kill you.
I dislike the manner some people are responding to Ideye’s advice. As a matter of fact, he is entitled to his opinion. Footballers face a lot of risks and the worst of them is injury. God forbid it happen to Victor, if anyone think he has not built his career enough, after winning the African Footballer of Year award for Nigeria since Kanu last won it in1999. Life after retirement can be terrible if there’s no enough savings. After all Sadio Mane left Liverpool to Bayern. What happened to him after a season with Bayern? I believe Ideye was talking from experience as a footballer and he deserved some respect.