Victor Osimhen has opened up on why he rejected the lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia in the summer and opted to remain at Napoli.
Osimhen helped Napoli to win their first Italian Serie A title in 33 years, the club’s first since the Diego Maradona-inspired 1989-90 triumphant season.
His performance alerted top European clubs to him, and throughout the summer, he was continually linked with a move away, with the departure of Luciano Spalletti not helping matters.
Per Sky Sports, Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal submitted an offer of £120 million to Napoli to sign the Nigerian forward and offered him a salary of almost £1mil per week.
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Nigerians openly expressed their mind to their star man about the offer from the Middle East, and many were disappointed he did not take the deal and leave Italy.
Speaking on the Obi One Podcast, the 24-year-old has opened up on what went on behind the scenes.
“I have to be honest, I never thought of it at first,” he said about leaving Napoli.
“When the Saudi Arabia offer came, it was tempting, a bit huge to refuse. I had about three meetings with the club and society. I spoke to the manager, and he shared his plans, which I keyed into, and then I made up my mind to stick with the team.”
“It didn’t happen overnight. We already spoke about my future at the end of last season, but you never know what the future holds, and we’ll see,” he added.
He claimed if he would take the next step in his career, it has to be a move that keeps his momentum going as he has more to achieve before chasing money.
Osimhen drops Premier League hint?
There’s a widespread belief that Osimhen is a Chelsea fan because of a picture of him wearing the club jersey circulating on social media. He has debunked the rumours and discussed his football affiliation growing up.
“I don’t have a team I support in the Premier League, but I used to have two jerseys – Chelsea and Manchester United with Vodafone as the sponsor. I’ve got a lot of my friends who are Chelsea fans, few are United fans,” he said.
Per ESPN, the London club retain their interest in the U17 World Cup winner as they want to add an established striker to their team in January.
Osimhen favourite for African best
Kimbi sport previously analysed Osimhen as favourite to win African Best award later this year as he leads other contenders for Africa’s biggest individual prize.
He helped Napoli win the Scudetto and reach the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in the club’s history.