By Ben Nsemo
French Ligue 1 side Lille earned just €7m from Victor Osimhen’s high-profile transfer to Napoli in 2020, despite the deal being valued at over €70m, club President Olivier Letang has revealed.
The Super Eagles striker’s move to the Italian side included four Napoli players who never featured for the French club, raising questions about the true value of the transfer.
“The net amount, considering the player’s purchase, four players valued at €20m, but who were worth nothing, intermediaries and commissions, was €7m, more or less,” Letang told L’Equipe TV.
Investigations and Reactions
The revelation comes amid investigations by authorities in Italy and France into the circumstances surrounding the transfer, though Napoli have been cleared of any wrongdoing.
“Napoli have already been judged on this matter with two different levels of the justice system that cleared the club and directors, finding no irregularities,” club lawyer Mattia Grassani said last year.
The lawyer emphasised Napoli’s clean record, noting, “Napoli is the only club where the Prosecutor did not ask for the judgment to be revoked, which then led to Juventus having first a 15-point and then a 10-point Serie A penalty.”
Letang, who became Lille’s President months after Osimhen’s departure, has now shed light on the complex financial structure of the deal that took the Nigerian to Italy.
Osimhen’s Rise to Prominence
The transfer marked a significant milestone in Osimhen’s career, which began in the challenging environment of Lagos’ Olusosun community. After impressing at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup, where he won the Golden Boot with a record 10 goals, he earned a move to Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.
Following a difficult spell in Germany, Osimhen found his feet at Charleroi in Belgium before joining Lille in 2019, where he scored 18 goals in 38 appearances across all competitions.
His subsequent move to Napoli proved transformative for both player and club. The 25-year-old striker netted 76 goals in 133 appearances for the Partenopei, playing a crucial role in ending their 33-year wait for the Serie A title in 2023. The Lagos-born forward also claimed the Serie A Golden Boot and became the highest-scoring African in Italian top-flight history, surpassing George Weah’s record of 46 goals.
Current Form and Future Prospects
Osimhen, who was crowned 2023 CAF African Footballer of the Year, is currently on loan at Turkish giants Galatasaray, where he has maintained his prolific form with 10 goals and five assists in 14 appearances.
Though contracted to Napoli until 2026, the striker’s future remains uncertain with clauses in his contract allowing for a permanent departure either in January or summer.
His time in Naples was marked by consistent goal-scoring and the historic Scudetto triumph, but this latest revelation about his transfer fee adds another chapter to what has been a complex relationship between the player and the Italian club.
