Osimhen lost his mother at a young age.
His father lost his job, three months after he lost his wife.
He sold “pure” water on the streets of Lagos.
He was rejected by many clubs.
But today he is one of best players in the world.
Did you know his road to stardom started with 15 minutes!!!
He was barely 13 when he lost his mum.
And as if that wasn’t enough, three months after losing his mum, his father lost his job.
His father losing his job meant them moving from a 2-bedroom flat to a self-contained.
Now imagine eight people living in a self contain apartment.
A Tough Start!!!
He was the last amongst seven kids but he didn’t get the special treatment given to “Last Borns” in Nigerian homes.
He rather joined his elder siblings in hustling to make sure they survived. He hawked “pure” water along Ojota Road, Lagos State.
A Born Hustler!!!
His siblings sold newspapers and oranges on the street. It was a family united in making sure they survived.
He lived in one of Lagos State’s biggest refuse dump sites in Olusosun.
But that didn’t stop the young boy from dreaming; in fact, he dreamt big!!!
Dream Big: It’s Free!!!
His father wanted him to become a doctor. But he dropped out of school to pursue his dream of becoming a footballer and his father supported him.
He played street football and was with the then Ultimate Strikers Academy.
But he never played.
Personalise Your Dream!!!
In 2014, at age 16, he went for the Nigeria Under-17 Team screening, held in Abuja by Coach Emmanuel Amuneke.
Many young players were in the Abuja Stadium and they were both given 15 minutes to impress.
In 15 minutes he scored two goals!!!
“Luck Is When Opportunity Mets Preparation” is a common saying…
But it wasn’t enough for Osimhen as the tired Coach Amuneke sent him and the others away.
But as they left, he heard the Nigerian team doctor telling Coach Amuneke to try out “The guy on green”.
Coach Amuneke turned and called out “The guy on green!!!”, Osimhen turned because he wore green.
He ran back and Amuneke teased him, saying: “You no dey chop? Why you lean like this? Sit down!”
“May Our Destiny Helpers Never Miss Us”
And that was how Osimhen got selected into the Under-17 World Team.
He later went on to win the following;
• 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup
• 2015 FIFA U-17 Golden Boot (Highest Goal Scorer)
• 2015 FIFA Silver shoe award (Second Best Player)
Then the European bigs clubs came calling.
The Beginning Of Bigger Things
On 5 January, 2017, Osimhen signed for the German club, Wolfsburg, and was supposed to start living the life right.
But it got tougher for him.
The coach that brought him to Germany got sacked.
Osimhen got injured on his right knee and had to be operated three different times.
A Tale Of Woes At Wolfsburg
After surgery, he started training to get fit, while training he had a shoulder injury that needed another surgery.
After surgery he came back to Nigeria to be with his family and get fitter before returning to Germany.
He got better and even went to church for thanksgiving but…
It Got Tougher
He was about to travel back to Germany.
He had his bags packed when he woke and found himself in a hospital bed in Lagos.
Wolfsburg thought he didn’t want to come back for pre-season and asked for doctor’s report and pictures which he did.
He was diagnosed of malaria and typhoid.
He got better, traveled back to Wolfsburg and, for three weeks he was quarantined away from the team.
Wolfsburg decided to loan him. He agreed because he wanted to play football.
He even decided to play for the lower division of the German League but a top Belgian side came for him.
Zulte Waregem in Belgium wanted him on loan.
So, he went to train with them.
They tested him and found out he still had malaria but the coach told him to keep training.
For three weeks he trained; scored goals in training and the coach promised him the club would sign him.
Finally, an escape route but on the eve to the day he would be signed, his agent was called and told he wasn’t needed again.
He went to Wolfsburg which relegated him to the Under-19 Team to train so he could be fit to be loaned out later.
Whilst training, another club called.
It was the Belgian Champions, Club Brugge.
Osimhen was happy.
He went to Belgium where he passed his medicals.
The team doctor told him it is left for the club president to make the move official.
The deal was never made official as Club President turned down the deal.
He was broken!!!
He went back to Germany where he would wake up by 4am to cry.
He told his agent not to worry about any transfer again so as to allow him stay and fight for his place in Germany.
On a Wednesday morning, five days to the closure of the European transfer market, he got another call.
It was a call from another Belgian Club, this time Charleroi FC.
A voice introduced himself as the Club President and told him: “Can you come to Charleroi? I want to sign you.”
He left for Belgian by road with his agent. They spent seven hours.
When he got to the Belgian club, Osimhen got signed.
For a player that hasn’t scored a goal in two years of turning pro, he scored 20 goals in 36 appearance for the club.
He later left to join French club, Lille.
He went to France and scored 18 goals, making him a fan favourite among the Lille faithful.
But that was just the start of his story…
Italian giants, Napoli FC, broke their transfer record to make him the most expensive African player when they paid Lille $96M (N39.7Billion).
And just less than two weeks ago, he led Napoli to their first Serie A title in 33 years…breaking all sorts of records along the way.
He is now the African with the most goals scored in a single Serie A season, breaking Samuel Eto’s record.
Osimhen Became The Prince Of Naples!!!
John Ogu called him a beast with a lion’s heart.
Odion Ighalo called him the Crown Prince to the throne of Nigerian attackers.
He is one of the hottest top prospects in world football at the moment.
He is Victor James Osimhen!!!…
A globally celebrated football prodigy who nearly missed stardom.
•Source: Facebook
