Etim Esin, a former Nigeria international, has weighed in on the lingering transfer saga of Napoli and Nigeria striker, Victor Osimhen, attributing the delay in potential departure from the Serie A side to off-field issues, especially the player’s outburst against former Super Eagles coach, Finidi George.
Osimhen, winner of the 2015 FIFA U17 World Cup with Emmanuel Amuneke’s Golden Eaglets, slammed former Super Eagles coach, Finidi George, in a live video in June over comments regarding his absence from the national team.
Osimhen has been a subject of transfer even before the start of the summer transfer window, but with 10 days left for summer transfer business, Napoli are still looking for a suitable offer for the waspy Nigerian striker valued at €130m.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, and PSG have all been linked with a move for the reigning African Footballer of The Year but nothing has materialised with the Blues remaining as the only viable option.
In an interview with Elegbete TV, Esin, who is regarded as one of the most gifted Nigerian players, feels the transfer of the 25-year-old ought not to take too long, given his pedigree as the best player in Africa.
“A coach can make or mar you in terms of indiscipline, and I think one of my pitfalls was indiscipline,” Esin told Elegbete TV.
“You haven’t played the World Cup. You haven’t won AFCON; you just won the African Footballer of The Year, and you are ranting like this.
“Look at all the transfer saga going on. Now, they are looking for a swap deal, making your life difficult. Which African Footballer of the Year had been involved in a swap deal? Yekini, Amuneke, Ikpeba Nwankwo Kanu amongst others signed their contracts straight up.
“I think Osimhen should sit down and even come and ask someone like me what indiscipline has cost me in football. Thank God it hasn’t cost my life”.
The ‘enfants terrible’ of Nigeria football also noted that the player should turn his attention to the more needy aspects of the residents of the area in which he grew up in Lagos.
“Go to where you are from and build an academy. Raise another star, if they can’t play football, give them scholarships. That’s what his team should advise him to do. I’m not coming here showing off with music stars. I used to do that, but it would derail him.
“By now, his deal should have been closed. The window is almost over.”
Osimhen was signed from Lille in 2020 for a fee of around €75m and the Nigeria international has gone on to establish himself as one of the most exciting strikers in world football. He scored 25 league goals in the 2022/23 season to help Napoli win the Serie A for the first time in 33 years, emerged as the league’s top scorer and won the APOTY award in December 2023.
