SPORTS PERSON OF THE YEAR: VICTOR OSIMHEN

Two years ago when Victor Osimhen conquered the tough  Italian Serie A  by helping Napoli  win the Scudetto  for the first  time since the Diego Maradona era  of the 1990s, and was deservedly crowned The Nation’s Sportsman of the Year, many would have thought  it would be challenging for  him to arrive  at such an enviable height two years later.

Of course, Year 2023 was indeed Osimhen’s. Apart from becoming  the  all-time highest-scoring African player in Serie A with 47 goals (overtaking  George Weah’s record of 46 goals), he also became  the first  African to be crowned  the top scorer in the  Italian league with a remarkable 26 goals (31 in all competitions) that helped Napoli  land their first title in 33 years.

With Nigeria, the former FIFA U-17 Wold Cup winner was equally on fire with 10 remarkable goals that helped Super Eagles’ qualification for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). He ultimately walked away with the African Footballer of the Year, aside other individual accolades that included being ranked the 8th Best Player in the 2023 Ballon d’Or list – the first Nigerian ever to make the top ten in the annual influential awards.

The following season, Osimhen became the subject of transfer interests from  top European  sides, amongst them Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Bayern Munich,  as well as  Barcelona and  Real Madrid. He would soon be embroiled in a contract renewal dispute with Napoli which dragged on like a festering sore, until he was eventually offered an extension until 2026, but with a new release clause set at a staggering €130 million.

Despite the off-field distractions and spate of injuries, he was among the goals for Napoli with an impressive 17 goals across 32 matches in all competitions. Likewise, he was  the ‘star boy’  as Nigeria  romped  to a ‘golden’  Silver  at the delayed 2023 AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire where the Super Eagles were edged 2-1  in the final by the hosts, the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire.

In the summer, things practically fell apart between Osimhen and Napoli after the club, with all intents and purposes, rejected offers from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli as well as Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. Then there was a change of guard at Napoli with the arrival of Antonio Conte who not only excluded Osimhen from Napoli’s Serie A squad for the season, but stripped him of his shirt number and handed it to new signing Romelu Lukaku.

It was a typical  hero to zero tale and like a weather-beaten dog, Osimhen  would soon be  farmed  away  on a season-long loan  to  Galatasaray in what  had gone down in history  as one of the most acrimonious transfer deals in European football.

The striker, in his typical style, practically turned the lemon threw at him by Napoli to lemonade on arrival in Turkey as he opened his goal scoring for Galatasaray when he netted a brace on his debut in the first half of a 3–3 draw with Kasımpaşa.

Without a doubt, Osimhen’s arrival in Turkey as a loanee from Napoli  has been a fascinating and transformative period much to the delight of his admirers but to the embarrassment of those who felt his career was nigh to the end.

He has not only adapted seamlessly to a new league but has also re-established himself as one of Europe’s most prolific and dominant centre-forwards, culminating in a spectacular domestic campaign.

His goal-scoring prowess was instrumental to Galatasaray securing a domestic double – winning the Süper Lig and the Türkiye Kupasi (Turkish Cup) – and saw him finish as the league’s top scorer.

A fact well-stressed by influential online directory, Transfermarket: “His 37 goals in 41 appearances across all club competitions mark one of the most prolific seasons of his professional career. In the Süper Lig, his 26 goals saw him convincingly claim the Golden Boot, showcasing his ability to lead the line and consistently convert chances in a high-pressure title race.

Crucially, he also contributed seven assists, highlighting a growing willingness and capability to link up play and facilitate attacks for his teammates.

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“His contribution to the domestic cup run was equally vital, including scoring five goals in just four cup matches, proving he maintained his high standards across all domestic competitions and was key to securing the domestic double.”

To many, Osimhen’s dominance in the Turkish top-flight reaffirmed his credentials as a world-class ‘number nine’ and he also shone like the  neon light in the dark in Gala’s campaign on the continent as he netted six goals in seven appearances in their bold  but futile bid  for the UEFA Europa League title.

His efforts were rewarded with a four -year contract as the yellow and gold broke the bank to complete his transfer from Napoli with a net fee of €75 million that made Osimhen the highest transfer fee in Turkish football history.

He would make history yet again early November when he became the first foreigner, and the second overall Galatasaray player (after Burak Yılmaz) to score a hat-trick in the Champions League after netting three goals against Ajax in a 3–0 away victory.  He overtook Obafemi Martins as Nigeria’s all-time top scorer in European competitions and also makes him the second Nigerian player (after Yakubu) to have scored a hat-trick in the Champions League.

In spite of that, Osimhen’s catalogue of goals in the year under review was not limited to Galatasaray. He totally became the tour de force for the Super Eagles in several crucial Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying and FIFA World Cup qualifying matches during the 2024/2025 calendar.

For instance in March, he became the second highest goal scorer for the Super Eagles after scoring a brace in a 2–0 away victory over Rwanda in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier and also netted a remarkable hat-trick against Benin in Nigeria’s 4–0 victory in October which sealed the Super Eagles’ place in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers playoffs.

He will also be remembered for the yeoman’s performance against Gabon at the CAF Playoffs in November when he grabbed a brace in an emphatic 4-1, which took his tally to an impressive eight goals in seven matches between March and November 2025.

Yet, Nigeria’s non-qualification for next year’s  FIFA World Cup is ironically linked to the ‘Osimhen factor’   simply  because whenever  he was unavailable, the Super Eagles were  such  a mess especially  in that better forgotten  second-half collapse against Democratic Republic of Congo in the playoffs in Morocco.   Others won’t also forget his petulance with coach Finidi George   which cost the Super Eagles precious points before Franco-Malian coach Eric Sekou Chelle came on board.

While the national team had its own challenges – both on-and off the field, he remained at his prolific best so much so that fans on the streets of Lagos to Lokoja; from Abuja to Aba; from Port Harcourt to Potiskum and from Kano to Kalabari shared the similar sentiment:  “there is no Super Eagles without Osimhen and without Osimhen, there is no Super Eagles.”

This December 29th, Osimhen who this week was crowned as the  Athlete of the Year in Turkey by GQ Türkiye, will be 27. But the sentiments echoed by  England legend Frank Lampard, after  the Nigerian ace striker scored his very first goal in the UEFA Champions League against  Chelsea  six years ago on 2nd October 2019, still ring true: “He is fast; he has everything. His story is great where he has come from, where he is now and it looks like a fantastic career ahead of him.”