Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has claimed that he was pressured into signing for Napoli in 2020 while his father was dying, alleging that agents and club officials forced the move without his consent.
According to a leaked testimony published by La Repubblica, the Nigerian forward told Italy’s Guardia di Finanza that he was excluded from key negotiations and never saw a draft of his contract during talks between Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis and Lille executives.
Osimhen’s €70m move from Lille to Napoli that summer was one of Europe’s biggest transfers — but also one of its most controversial. Italian prosecutors are currently investigating the deal for alleged false accounting.
“My previous agent, Jean Gerard, showed strong interest from Napoli, but he only cared about completing the transfer, not my father’s health,” Osimhen reportedly said in his testimony. “At that time, I didn’t have the head to think about football; I just wanted to know how my father was doing.”
He recounted being summoned to Nice, where Lille’s sporting director Luis Campos and president Gerard Lopez informed him that a deal with Napoli had already been agreed in principle.
“They told me I should move to Napoli because it was a good opportunity for Lille during the pandemic. But I knew nothing about it,” he added.
Osimhen said his father’s death during the negotiations left him devastated and angry at how the situation was handled.
“I was extremely angry with Lille and my agent because I couldn’t see my father before he died. They even told me I had to travel to Naples the next day, without realising what had just happened.”
Despite his grief, the striker travelled to Italy but insisted he initially refused to sign anything.
“I met the coach, who explained the project to me, and then De Laurentiis in Capri. He talked about the city and the club, but I didn’t understand what he was saying in Italian. When he asked if I had seen the contract, I told him I hadn’t received anything.”
Osimhen alleged that when he later demanded to see the agreement, his agent presented “a piece of paper — a pseudo-contract with Napoli.” Feeling deceived, he wanted to return to France before eventually cutting ties with his representative and appointing William D’Avila to take over the deal.
By late July 2020, the contract was signed in Lille, in the presence of Napoli official Maurizio Micheli, Lille executives, and his new agent Roberto Calenda.
“Towards the end of July, I signed the contract in Lille, with Maurizio Micheli for Napoli and others like D’Avila, Lopez, Ingla, Calenda, and Cros,” Osimhen recalled.
The transfer has since become the focus of an ongoing financial investigation. Prosecutors Lorenzo Del Giudice and Giorgio Ornano have requested that De Laurentiis and Napoli CEO Andrea Chiavelli stand trial over alleged financial irregularities in the deal.
Authorities suspect both Napoli and Lille inflated player values to balance their books. La Repubblica reported that Napoli initially valued Osimhen at €50m, but the final figure rose to €70m, including €20m in player swaps.
The additional value came from four players — goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis and youth players Luigi Liguori, Claudio Manzi, and Ciro Palmieri, collectively valued at €19m. None of the youth players ever featured for Lille and were swiftly loaned out to lower-division clubs before being released, raising further questions about the legitimacy of the valuations.
