Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has revealed that he felt pressured into signing for Napoli in 2020 while his late father was critically ill, claiming that agents and club officials forced through the deal without his full consent.
In a leaked testimony to Italy’s Guardia di Finanza, obtained by La Repubblica, Osimhen disclosed that he never saw a draft of his contract and felt excluded from negotiations handled by Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis and Lille officials.
Osimhen’s transfer from Lille to Napoli in the summer of 2020 was one of Europe’s biggest and most controversial moves — now under investigation for alleged false accounting and inflated player valuations.
“My previous agent, Jean Gerard, was only focused on the transfer and not on my father’s health. At that time, I wasn’t thinking about football; I just wanted to know how he was doing,” Osimhen told investigators.
He recounted that during a meeting in Nice with Gerard, Lille president Gerard Lopez, and sporting director Luis Campos, he was informed that the deal with Napoli had already been agreed upon — even though he had no prior knowledge of it.
Tragically, Osimhen’s father passed away during the transfer negotiations, leaving the striker devastated.
“I was extremely angry with Lille and my agent because I hadn’t been able to see him before he died. They even told me I would have to leave for Naples the next day, unaware of my father’s death,” he said.
Despite his grief, Osimhen travelled to Italy to meet with Napoli officials, including De Laurentiis, who presented the club’s project to him. However, he still hadn’t received a proper contract draft. When he requested one, his agent only handed him what he described as a “pseudo-agreement.”
Feeling deceived, the Nigerian forward considered returning to France but eventually cut ties with Gerard, replacing him with William D’Avila as his new representative.
The deal was later finalized in Lille at the end of July 2020, with officials from both clubs and Osimhen’s new agent in attendance.
Now, Italian prosecutors are probing whether Napoli and Lille manipulated financial records to meet transfer regulations. Reports suggest Osimhen was originally valued at €50 million, but the final €70 million fee included €20 million worth of player exchanges involving youth players Luigi Liguori, Claudio Manzi, and Ciro Palmieri — none of whom ever featured for Lille.
These revelations have reignited scrutiny around De Laurentiis and other officials, as authorities consider possible trials over alleged accounting irregularities linked to the record-breaking deal.
