For the last two summers, Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has been the subject of many transfer speculation, but he is yet to get the big move he and many fans want despite his prolific form, Soccernet.ng reports.
Osimhen has established himself as one of the top marksmen in the world over the last three years. Across the last three campaigns with Napoli and Galatasaray, the Super Eagles star has contributed 85 goals and 17 assists in 112 games.
Last summer, it seemed certain that Osimhen would leave Napoli for the Premier League after his impressive exploits.
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The 26-year-old striker was linked to the big boys like Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal, but the speculations did not materialize despite dragging into the final hours of the transfer market.
Instead Osimhen eventually joined Galatasaray in a season-long loan eventually, after he was frozen out of the team.
In the just-concluded season with Galatasaray, Osimhen was the star of the show with his 37 goals. He won the Golden Boot and led the Lions to win the Turkish Super Lig and the Turkish Cup.
Yet, it seems this summer will be a repeat of the last. The talks of a Premier League transfer have started again, but no offer has been made yet.
Meanwhile, the clubs that Osimhen has been linked to are already signing attackers. Manchester United have signed Cunha and are set to sign Bryan Mbeumo.
Chelsea have already confirmed Liam Delap's signing, and Arsenal seem more interested in Benjamin Sesko or Viktor Gyokeres.
Osimhen's protracted transfer has raised eyebrows among fans, most of whom believe he has enough talent to shine in the English top-flight.
But transfer expert David Ornstein has shed light into the issue. In an Athletic Football podcast, he revealed that some English clubs are indeed interested in Osimhen. But they have concerns about his character and his profile.
They are also unwilling to meet his current wages. Osimhen currently gets close to €200k net per week, and he is unwilling to go below that. If any English club wants to pay him up to that amount, his gross earnings would be over €300k per week due to the high tax rates in England, making him a very expensive acquisition.
Does Victor Osimhen have character issues?
Before last year, many fans looked at Victor Osimhen as a humble footballer. But the public's perception of him changed last summer, when he called out the then-Super Eagles coach Finidi George on social media.
That event sparked a whole conversation about the Super Eagles striker's attitude and temperament. That also caused fans to look back at previous situations when he was sent off from Napoli's training ground by coach Luciano Spalletti.
There was also a time when he openly remonstrated after coach Rudi Garcia subbed him off during a Napoli game.
Then, a few months ago, after Nigeria's 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Osimhen walked off the pitch in anger, pushing off his teammates who tried to talk to him.
While Osimhen also had some publicized issues with members of his family, these seem to have subside for a while.
Nonetheless, with the transfer market still open for well over three months, the Super Eagles star could still get his move.
This is absolute nonsense. What character are they talking about that all his coaches, especially the most recent ones at Napoli, Luciano Spalletti and Okan Buruk of Galatasaray, did not see?. In the first place, is there any player who does not have a character issue? In the past, we have had some players like Carlos Tevez and Roberto Mancini at Man City, had a major falling out where Tevez refused to play. At Chelsea, players like Andriy Shevchenko, Tal Ben Haim, Michael Ballack, Salomon Kalou, and Florent Malouda were involved in a training ground fight over issues with coaching and player management.
Zinedine Zidane, in the 2006 World Cup final, headbutted Materazzi in extra time after what was reported to be some verbal provocation from the Italian defender, whom he stated that the Italian had insulted his sister. Most recently, Ben White reportedly had a confrontation with England assistant manager Steve Holland and later refused to play for the national team due to issues with Gareth Southgate’s setup.
Others like Nicolas Anelka and coach Raymond Domenech at the 2010 World Cup; Fernando Redondo with coach Daniel Passarella (Argentina) over his hair cup or hairstyle; Anders Limpar and coach George Graham (Arsenal) Limpar was known to be the most in-formed player in the country then and won the title in 1990/91, had a falling out where and was relegated to the bench/substitute role. Before being sold to Everton in 1994, both men were barely on speaking terms, and the player likened his life under Graham to living in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, stating that he was a prisoner. Just to mention a few.
These instances demonstrate the potential for conflict when players and coaches disagree, and state or highlight the IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND MUTUAL RESPECT WITHIN A TEAM.
In the case of Osimhen, he simply defended himself against character assassination by the national coach, who wants to make him the scapegoat for his loss and incompetence in managing the team. O
On the two occasions you pointed out, the sending off from Napoli’s training ground by coach Luciano Spalletti and remonstrating after coach Rudi Garcia subbed him off during a Napoli game, did the coaches go to social media to castigate him for any reason? But in the case of his national coach, George Finidi, he went to social media to lie against the player as claiming the cause of his failure and incompetence. In your other instance, in Nigeria’s 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, where Osimhen walked off the pitch in anger, which a serious labourer of a team who would not be angry? This player, who has laboured so hard to put the team in front in such a crucial game, sees his teammates allow the opportunity slip off their fingers just a few minutes after being subbed off. We, the Nigerians, do not see this action as an issue or a problem, but as an attitude from a winning mentality.
Your point of view of the young man does not fall under character issues that will stop any club from signing him if they can afford him.