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By Ebenezer Bajela.
Despite spending just a season with French outfits, Lille, Nigeria international Victor Osimhen, in an interview with France Football says making his debut with the club was one of his best moments.
Osimhen joined Lille from RSC Charleroi after a successful 2018/19 season where he scored 20 goals and registered four assists in 36 games across all competitions.
The Nigerian’s impressive display in Belgium saw Lille paid the sum of €22m to lure him to France and the striker was an instant hit.
In this interview with France Football, 24-year-old, Osimhen reflected on his arrival in Lille in 2019, where he stayed for just one season.
“Ah, joining Lille… It was yet another step up. Christophe Galtier was the coach.
“On day one, he asked me how many goals I was going to score on my debut. I told him I was going to score two.
“He said to me, “Ah yes, you’re not kidding around!” Then the first week went really well, in the superb facilities at Luchin, with that French gang (Jonathan) Ikoné, (Jonathan) Bamba, (Mike) Maignan. They created such a fantastic atmosphere, my God! (Laughs.).
“I felt like I had belonged to this team for weeks. As I got out of the bus ahead of the first game, (José) Fonte said to me, “If you really score two goals, I’ll take you to a restaurant.”
“I replied, “OK, captain!” He gave me an assist on the first goal, Nantes equalised, then I scored the winning goal in the 80th minute. It was such an adrenaline rush… I had never felt that in a big stadium before. And then, match after match, everything fell into.”
Osimhen left Lille for Napoli in 2020 after just a season with the French club and he is enjoying one of the best moments of his career with the Italian outfits this season as he currently tops the Italian Serie A scorers chart with 21 goals, seven more than Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez, who is in second position with 14 goals.
The former Lille man’s fantastic form in front of goal is one of the reasons Luciano Spalleti’s side are league leaders after 29 matches, 16 points more than second-place Lazio and are on course to winning the Italian league title for the first time in over three decades.
The 24-year-old forward has three years left in his contract at the Stadio Amando Maradona, but following a decent campaign so far, a number of European clubs have been linked with securing his services in the summer, with Manchester United one of the favourites to land the striker.