Victor Osimhen will be unveiled as a Napoli player on Tuesday, 16 July noted Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio has confirmed.
According to Di Marzio, Napoli will pay Lille an initial 50m euros for the 21-year old striker who will sign a five-year contract with the Naples side.
The confirmation brings an end to long-running negotiations over Napoli’s number one target which has dragged on for weeks and seen Osimhen fire his former agent in order to get the deal over the line.
Osimhen has been the subject of affection of leading European clubs after an excellent first season in France with Lille for whom he scored 18 goals in 38 appearances in all competitions before the season was ended prematurely as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The striker who was signed by Les Dogues from Belgian side Sporting Charleroi was named Lille’s player of the season and also won the Marc Vivien Foe award for the best African player in Ligue 1.
The breakthrough in negotiations between the player’s camp and Napoli will bring huge relief to Gennaro Gattuso who has never hidden his desperation to land the former Wolfsburg striker.
Osimhen’s imminent move to Serie A will swell the number of Nigerians in the Italian topflight where Super Eagles duo William Troost-Ekong and Ola Aina play for Udinese and Torino respectively.
Former Nigerian international Victor Moses is currently on loan at Inter Milan but it isn’t clear if Inter will retain his services next season.
