George Weah, Roger Milla, Jay Jay Ococha, Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba and many others are African legends, players who influenced a bunch of younger raising stars like Victor Osimhen, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, or Yaya Toure. African continent has always been a nursery of a great striking force and Napoli forward is just becoming one. Victor Osimhen is not a new name in the European football, as the Napoli striker came from Lagos to Wolfsburg at the age of 17, but only after changing a couple of clubs did the Nigerian found its fantastic form in Naples. Osimhen is having a dream season in Italy, and is on a verge of becoming Serie A champion. His club is also in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in history and after the season, the prolific striker will be sought after mainly from England. Club with a need for a proper striker, but also with a big budget, like Manchester United or Chelsea will be seeking Osimhen.Osimhen on Drogba: “When I scored 10 goals and won the Golden Boot at the U17 World Cup, one of the Nigeria staff showed me a tweet from Drogba. It said ‘Congratulations Victor. I wish you all the best for the future.’ I was shocked. I never believed someone like Drogba would… pic.twitter.com/Rj7FDbZsNJ— Vince™ (@Blue_Footy) April 11, 2023 More and more, the currently injured striker is a subject of British media, and Daily Mail decided to do an interview with the striker in which he talked about his childhood in Lagos, thoughts about the Premier League and Serie A, his African influences but also his big wish – to claim the African Footballer of the Year award.“I started playing football at seven or eight but I was not really into it as I was still going with my sisters to sell oranges. I knew I was good at it but then at a certain point I realised I had to take it seriously. They closed down the pitch at my primary school and we had a lot of talented players, but most of them went to get jobs. After that I had to walk for an hour to train at a secondary school outside my community. At the same time I was selling bottled water in the Lagos traffic, trying to help my family however I could. I had trials for the Nigeria Under-17 side, meaning a five-hour journey to the capital city Abuja. Initially I didn’t make the grade and when I found out, I had tears in my eyes. But I kept pushing and eventually I was chosen. The Under-17 World Cup was a turning point for me. I am not going to lie. It would be my dream to be African Footballer of the Year. I was at the ceremony in 2015, when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang won the award. As an African you dream of this prize and maybe I can win” admitted Osimhen.Big Champions League blow for Napoli: Osimhen will miss the Milan battleAs most young men in Africa, Osimhen has his idol while growing up and playing football. And it’s not a surprise that Didier Drogba was the figure he looked up to. Former Ivory Coast international also took notice of Osimhen’s career and is regularly giving him tips over Instagram account.“I have always supported Drogba and I have huge love and admiration for him. I remember when he scored the equaliser in the 2012 Champions League Final, an amazing header, and the way I celebrated was as though I had scored the goal. My friends knew I was obsessed with Drogba. When I scored 10 goals and won the Golden Boot at the Under-17 World Cup in 2015, one of the Nigeria staff showed me a tweet from Drogba. It said ‘Congratulations Victor. I wish you all the best for the future.’ I was shocked. I never believed someone like Didier Drogba would tweet those words to a young aspiring striker. It gave me a whole new motivation to succeed. Trust me, he has been so helpful. One morning last year I woke up and checked my Instagram, and found messages to me from him, complimenting me, but saying I still had a long way to go. It’s amazing to be in contact with him. I try to model my game on his and there are a lot of things I can take from his game and add to my own, so there is nothing better for a young player. He’s a hero in his country, he’s played to the highest level, won a lot and made African youngsters dream. He’s a busy man but whenever he sees my messages on Instagram he replies immediately. It’s a great feeling” admits Osimhen.‘Racism must end, it will psychologically damage so many kids’The Nigerian forward is often compared to other strikers in Europe, mostly Erling Haaland, and he revealed he already swapped shirts with the Norwegian international.“I play with Leo Ostigard at Napoli, who is very good friends with Haaland and plays for Norway with him. I am a fan of the Bundesliga so I’ve followed him for a while and every weekend he seems to score two, three, four goals. Ostigard spoke to me a lot about him, how hard he trained, then one day he said: ‘If you want, I can bring you his shirt.’ I said: ‘Of course, bro.’ So he spoke to Haaland, who also asked for my shirt, so we swapped them through Ostigard. He is one of the best of his generation so to be compared with him – and considered one of the best strikers in the world – only inspires me to do more” revealed Osimhen.Osimhen opens up about his face operation: ‘I had to rebuild my face’This season, Napoli has been a dominant team in Serie A and is on a verge of a first Serie A title since 1990 with Diego Armando Maradona. And Osimhen wants to give joy to the passionate Napoli supporters.“Everyone watches the Premier League, it is really competitive, but Serie A is also one of the strongest leagues. When Cristiano Ronaldo played there, he said the same thing. I am really happy to be there. If we can win the title for Napoli, the city will never be the same again. When you go to the city, the fans have tears in their eyes. They haven’t won the league since Maradona’s time (1990) and they are so close to realizing this dream. Sometimes they come to the players’ houses to show their love, as late as 2am. Naples bleeds for football and I have imagined many times how the city will explode if we can win the league title. We have chances to go far in the Champions League, too” said the Nigerian.##NAJAVA_MECA_7171927##
