My Champions League ambitions – The Nation Newspaper

Galatasaray forward Victor Osimhen, in a new UEFA Champions League documentary, has offered unprecedented insight into his move to Galatasaray, his difficult childhood, the loss of his mother, and his rise to global football stardom. TAIWO ALIMI captures his words.

Victor Osimhen is clear about his ambitions in life, even as a boy, in spite of his difficult upbringing. Though he lost his mother at a tender age and his father also passed on in 2020, and his early is depended on struggling siblings, and hustle for food, he has risen to becoming one of the most prolific scorers in the world. He is on top of the cadre laden with honours, fame and cash. 

He has also become the most talked-about player in the UEFA Champions League after netting six goals so far to top Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, and Kylian Mbappe 

For Victor, a boy who grew up in downtown Olusosun, better known for its popular dumpsite in the populated Lagos, you don’t need to search too far to know where he learnt a life of ruggedness and resilience.

The boy from Olusosun

He said: “I came from a very poor background. I’m the last born of seven. I lost my mum at a very young age, and my father passed on in 2020. I lost my mother at a very young age. My brother called and said, ‘Mom fell asleep and never woke up again.’ When she left, it was really hard. Then my dad had to make sure he worked to feed us. I am grateful to God that I am where I am today. Before I rose to fame, my childhood was very tough.

“I came from a very poor background. Where I grew up is where the dream started to materialize. There was a dumpsite where I grew up. My friends and I would go there to look for shoes. If you found a right shoe of one brand and a left shoe of another, you put them together and used them the next day to play.”

“Before I rose to fame, before I became someone important in life, my childhood was really tough because, as a young lad, I had to try to live for myself, to try to help my siblings also in raising money at that time and to make sure that we all came together to help our father after his wife passed away.

“Olusosun shaped me to become the kind of person I am today, and, as much as I wouldn’t say it gave me so much, it actually taught me life lessons that have helped me through life’s journey. So, for me, it’s really an amazing place; that’s the reason why any time I’m in Nigeria, I always go there to show gratitude, to show to the young kids that if I could make it out of this place, I believe that you can.”

Osimhen said football became the lifeline for him and his family. He credited his childhood coach, Mr. Eric Kewe, for nurturing the raw talent that would later take him to Europe.

“We needed to do something. Football was the only escape for me and my family to get out of poverty.

“I was really young. We had this great man called Mr Eric Kewe, he assembled everyone. We called it Olusosun United. he is one of the people that used to encourage the boys. We were promoted from the youths to train with the big boys, and that shaped me.” Osimhen said that even during the darkest days of his childhood, he never doubted his ability or the destiny he felt ahead of him.

“Growing up, I didn’t have the privilege of a good life, but I believed so much in my talent, knowing that I was going to make it in one way or the other.”

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A brother’s love 

Osimhen also learnt hard work and hustling from his brother, who used to hawk sports papers on Lagos’ busy roads for a living.

“I saw the way my brother used to work because he sells sports newspapers. And if you sell sports newspapers in Nigeria, you can stay on the roadside, or you have your newspaper in your hand and you walk through the cars and hold up. He was the person who actually inspired me to hustle so hard.

“In the footballing aspect, it was Drogba because I saw him and I tried to model my game to his, and I tried to see how he plays, and how he’s living life outside of football. So, I have to be grateful for that man because for all I am now, I think I attribute some of my successes to him.

“He was the one that I actually picked to see the way he plays, to try to add some of his qualities, some of the things that he does that make him one of the most sought-after strikers in world football during his playing time. So, for me, it’s my brother in life, also, and then, in football, it’s Didier Drogba.

From Olusosun to Istanbul

From this humble background, Osimhen (26) has taken his talent to Europe and flourishing. His most recent transfer has landed him a permanent offer in Istanbul with Galatasaray, a move that is showing the best of the player.”      

“I arrived in Istanbul and I have never seen anything like this in my life before. It was unbelievable that there were so many of them at the airport. Many of them were tracking flights, and everything. I think it was two or three o’clock in the morning. Many of them are fathers, many of them are husbands, and many of them are wives. They were supposed to be sleeping with their family, just relaxing at home, but they are outside for one person.

“After that, you will just have that fire in you to make sure that for every sweat you give, every run you make, you make it for the badge. I absolutely love this club and I’m ready to go through everything with them: the good, the bad and the ugly – but I hope more good than bad!

Champions League pledge

As Osimhen returns to the UEFA Champions League with Galatasaray next week, he said of his ambitions: “Now it’s time to make a statement in the most prestigious games.”

After making his competition debut with Lille in 2019 and enjoying two further campaigns as he enhanced his reputation at Napoli, the Nigerian forward is now pouring in the goals for Galatasaray, whom he joined on a permanent basis in the summer after a successful season-long loan in 2024/25.

The Turkish champions are back at Europe’s top table after a season’s absence and flying high. With a 3-0 thrashing of Ajax on the Matchday 4 trip to Amsterdam, a pair of home victories has helped them bounce back from Matchday 1 disappointment, and Osimhen is front and centre with six goals in four matches.

“I spoke with the president when I arrived here, and we want to really make a statement in the Champions League. We want to show that, in Türkiye, we are the team that the whole world will know this year because we actually did something amazing in Europe.

“We’ve dominated the league for years. We will keep on dominating it, but now it’s time to make a statement in the most prestigious games, Champions League games, because it’s beautiful when you play in the Champions League. So, for us, we want to make a statement.”

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Napoli lessons

One would expect Osimhen not to speak kindly about Napoli, he acknowledged the good lesson learnt under the tutelage of coach Luciano Spalletti.  

“Spalletti pushed the team toward greatness and ultimately to the Serie A title. It was amazing because in Napoli they breathe football. Spalletti used to remind us that if you try to bring glory to the city again, you don’t know what you have done. Bringing the trophy back to where it all started gave me a sense of fulfillment.”

With a Champions League golden boot race currently being led by the Nigerian forward, the striker insists he is far from finished.

“Where I see myself in the future is greatness, but I have to keep on working so hard, improving day by day, and I think for sure I will get there.”

He ended the documentary with one of the most heartfelt statements — a tribute to the woman who never got to witness the heights he would reach.

“The death of my mom still hurts me today. For everything she sacrificed, she wasn’t able to be alive to enjoy it.”