Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Victor James Osimhen[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | 29 December 1998 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Lagos, Nigeria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Striker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team |
Galatasaray (on loan from Napoli) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number | 45 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
?–2017 | Ultimate Strikers Academy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2017–2019 | VfL Wolfsburg | 14 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2018–2019 | → Charleroi (loan) | 25 | (12) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2019 | Charleroi | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2019–2020 | Lille | 27 | (13) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2020– | Napoli | 108 | (65) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2024– | → Galatasaray (loan) | 6 | (6) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 | Nigeria U17 | 7 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015–2019 | Nigeria U23 | 4 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2017– | Nigeria | 37 | (22) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:26, 10 November 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:00, 10 September 2024 (UTC) |
Victor James Osimhen MON MFR (born 29 December 1998) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Süper Lig club Galatasaray, on loan from Serie A club Napoli, and the Nigeria national team. Regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, he is known for his finishing, pace, strength and athleticism.[3]
Born in Nigeria, Osimhen began his senior career in Germany at VfL Wolfsburg in 2017.[4] Following a season and a half at the club, he moved to Belgian side Charleroi on loan in 2018–19, before moving to Ligue 1 with Lille, scoring eighteen goals in his sole season with the French club.
In 2020, Osimhen transferred to Serie A side Napoli for a club-record fee of €70 million, and won the Serie A Best Young Player award in the 2021–22 season. In the following campaign, he finished as the league's top scorer with 26 goals, a record-high for an African player, as he helped Napoli win a first Serie A title for 33 years. For his efforts, he won the league's Best Striker award, before also being named Serie A Footballer of the Year a few months later. Osimhen is currently the highest scoring African player in the history of Serie A.[5][6]
Osimhen won the Golden Boot award at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup, which Nigeria won.[7] He made his senior international debut in June 2017, and played at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019 and 2023. His impacts off and on the pitch with other members of the team made them reach the final of the African Cup of Nations in 2023 of which they lost to the host country Ivory Coast. He is currently the joint-third all-time highest goalscorer of the Nigeria national team.[8] On 29 May 2023, Osimhen was made a Member of the Federal Republic by President Muhammadu Buhari.[9]
Osimhen finished in eighth place at the 2023 Ballon d'Or ceremony, becoming the first Nigerian to make the top ten of the French award.[10] He was also named the African Footballer of the Year at the 2023 CAF Awards, the first Nigerian to receive this honour since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999.[11]