5 European Clubs That Almost Signed Victor Osimhen (But Didn’t)

Super Eagles star Victor Osimhen has been making waves in world football all his career. From winning the Golden Boot at the 2015 U-17 World Cup to his impressive performances for Napoli in Serie A and now leading Galatasaray to the Super Lig title. 

Despite his immense talent, or because of it, Osimhen has found himself at the centre of transfer speculations, with several top clubs failing to commit. He has led two B-tier teams to league titles while winning golden boots, yet a move to the biggest clubs in world football remains elusive. 

Let's take a look at some of the European clubs that have been rumoured to be interested in signing him:

Osimhen grew up a Chelsea fan who idolised Didier Drogba. When he made the famous interview after leading Napoli to the Scudetto, in which he confessed to harbouring Premier League ambitions, many interpreted that as signalling Chelsea. 

After one more season at Naples, the Blues made a move for him in the summer of 2024. According to club legend John Mikel Obi, they came agonisingly close, but minor details prevented the deal from reaching fruition. 

Chelsea were unprepared to meet Osimhen's €130 million release clause valuation, and even after Napoli dropped the ask, they were unwilling to match the striker's wage demands, insisting he agree to a significantly lower guaranteed salary in line with their new incentive-based structure. 

Osimhen refused and, according to David Ornstein, is still holding a hard line on his wage demands. Despite Mikel’s speculation that Chelsea would return for the Nigerian, it remains unlikely at this point. 

No player has had this much impact in a Super Lig campaign as Osimhen has done this season for Galatasaray, a sentiment shared by many Turkish football analysts. 

He recently led them to a league and cup double and is a magnet for sponsorship deals and brand promotion. However, he could have played for Galatasaray's Istanbul rivals, Fenerbahce, this season, but the Yellow Canaries turned down the opportunity to sign him. 

After failing to secure a move before the close of the 2024/25 summer transfer window, Osimhen's representatives leveraged Turkey’s unique market that remains open after other European top divisions have stopped trading. 

They offered him to multiple clubs, and according to Adnan Aybaba, Fenerbahce passed on the opportunity to sign him before Galatasaray snapped him up. 

The Old Lady were keen on signing Osimhen last summer, but their financial situation, which forced them into selling young talents like Dean Huijsen, handicapped their movement in the transfer window. 

Their accounts are healthier going into the approaching summer transfer window, and they have identified the former Royal Charleroi striker as their key transfer target. They are anticipating Dusan Vlahovic's exit. 

However, the deal had multiple bottlenecks. Firstly, Napoli have a strong policy against selling to rival clubs, and although the striker's release clause had dropped to €75 million (for non-Italian clubs), the Partenopei insisted that the Old Lady must pay €100 million. 

Also, Osimhen is a loyal footballer—as would be explained further in what collapsed his move to the next club on the list—he shared a strong bond with Napoli fans and did not want to jeopardise that by joining a rival; hence, he rebuffed Juventus’s approach, as Pulse Sports reported. 

The Red Devils looked at Osimhen last summer, but it was during the winter transfer window of this season that they made a concrete move to acquire the services of the Nigerian. 

The former Capocannoniere is beloved by multiple ex-United players like Louis Saha and Rio Ferdinand, who have begged the club to sign the Nigerian.

With the evident struggle of Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund, Manchester United made a move for Osimhen in January, and according to reports, they reached an agreement with Napoli. 

However, the 26-year-old had fallen in with fans of Cim-Bom at the time, and in an incredible show of loyalty, he turned down a choice move to Old Trafford to deliver the league title for Galatasaray, to the chagrin of Aurelio de Laurentiis, whose sporting director, Giovanni Manna, had mapped out a plan to reinvest the proceeds in strengthening Antonio Conte’s team. 

The record French champions were also previously interested in signing Osimhen, with reports at the time claiming that they submitted a joint bid to Napoli for Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia, their grand plan to replace Kylian Mbappe. 

However, multiple factors prevented the deal from coming to fruition. Firstly, the Partenopei were interested in selling only Osimhen at the time, not the Georgian, and the former Dinamo Batumi man was PSG’s primary target. 

Secondly, the Parisians had two strikers on their books, Randal Kolo Muani and Goncalo Ramos, whom they struggled to move on at the time. 

Thirdly, and most crucially, PSG boss Luis Enrique preferred to play without a centre-forward, and even when sporting director Luis Campos, who knows Osimhen from signing him for Lille, pushed for the move, the Spanish coach had other ideas. 

Enrique has gone on to play a striker-less system, with winger Ousmane Dembele shining in a false 9 role, as they win Ligue 1 for the 12th time and reach the UEFA Champions League final. 

The Egyptian giants were one of the earliest clubs to turn down signing Victor Osimhen in his career. After he shone in the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup, the coach of the team, Emmanuel Amuneke, offered him to his former club, Zamalek, but they turned down the chance.  

“I don’t want to delve into many details about the matter of offering Osimhen to Zamalek. Zamalek is always my club, and I will do the same whenever I see a good player. One of the problems we face in Africa is the lack of courage in giving opportunities to young players,” Amuneke expressed In an interview with MBC Masr, per Pulse Sports. 

“We always look for the ready player in Africa, although the young ones are the future stars. I suggested Osimhen’s name to people at Zamalek, and the answer was ‘we are going to watch him,’ but nothing happened.”

Mikel Arteta's side were one of the clubs to register interest in Victor Osimhen; however, they never made a concrete move, only inquiries. 

The Gunners understood that they were priced out of the striker when his release clause still stood at €130 million. Hence, they remained focused on Arteta's first choice, Benjamin Sesko, whom they also failed to sign, as he signed a contract extension with Leipzig. 

While multiple unnamed Turkish teams passed on the chance to sign Victor Osimhen last summer, Trabzonspor are one of the verifiable ones, as their own president admitted to it, citing financial incapability. 

Osimhen has had solid offers from both Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal, two of the four PIF-backed clubs in the Saudi Pro League. However, the ambitious striker rejected their offer, prioritising European football.