Victor Osimhen’s transfer from Lille to Napoli was confirmed on Friday with the move not only shattering the previous African transfer record but also landing the player a healthy windfall in salary and bonuses.
Napoli paid an initial club-record €50m for the 21-year-old although it is understood the fee could rise to €81m after a number of performance-related add-ons.
That would make Osimhen the most expensive African player ever with the total value of the deal worth €1m more than Arsenal paid Lille for the Ivory Coast international Nicolas Pépé last summer.
And as worthy of such a record transfer – the fourth biggest in Serie A history -, Osimhen will also be rewarded handsomely for the duration of his five-year contract.
According to Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentis, Gli Azzuri will pay Osimhen a mouthwatering salary of between €4m – €4.5m euros per year – an astronomical increase from the €80,000 he was collecting monthly in France.
That translates to between 1.8 and 2.35 billion naira per year for the Super Eagles striker.
De Laurentis revealed that I Partenopei pulled all stops to land the Nigerian scoring sensation who has bagged 38 goals in the last to seasons for Lille and Sporting Charleroi after Genarro Gattuso identified the player as his number one target.
“Gattuso was very keen on the arrival of Osimhen. We will pay around 80M to Lille and between 4 and 4.5M (1.8 and 2 billion naira) per season to the player,” De Laurentis revealed in an interview with Naples radio station Radio Kiss Kiss.
The financial consideration no doubt played no small part in helping Osimhen make his mind up about rejecting advances from Liverpool and Tottenham in favour of a switch to Napoli.
