The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Osimhen

  • PSG to table similar offer for Osimhen, Leao

    PSG to table similar offer for Osimhen, Leao

    According to La Repubblica newspaper, Napoli expect a €120m offer for Victor Osimhen in the summer, but the Ligue 1 giants also want to invest the same fee in Milan star Rafael Leao.

    Osimhen is expected to return to action for Napoli this coming weekend after seeing his Nigeria national team lose in the AFCON Final to Cote d’Ivoire on Sunday.

    Osimhen has scored eight goals in 18 appearances for Napoli this season and recently signed a contract extension until June 2026 with the Partenopei.

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    According to several sources, Osimhen has a release clause worth €120m-130m, but according to Repubblica, Napoli expect an official bid from PSG at the end of the season.

    The report claimed the Partenopei are waiting for a €120m offer from the Ligue 1 giants and are prepared to part company with the Nigerian forward at the end of the current campaign.

    PSG are preparing for life after Kylian Mbappé and have also set their sights on Milan star Rafael Leao. It is reported that the French giants are preparing a similar offer for the Portuguese forward who has a €175m clause in his contract with the Rossoneri.

  • Osimhen ready for stiff Bafana Bafana test  

    Osimhen ready for stiff Bafana Bafana test  

    Super  Eagles  will yet again be counting  on Victor Osimhen for the  AFCON semi-final with South Africa after the Napoli striker recovered from his abdominal discomfort.

    The  reigning Africa Player of the Year yesterday arrived in Bouake, Cote d’Ivoire’s second city that will host today’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-final match between Nigeria and South Africa.

    The lanky forward, who has been key to Nigeria’s progress in this championship, with endless running and magnificent passes to wreck the opposition, has only on Tuesday evening been cleared to feature in the big game. He was part of the team’s training at the Stade Annexe, Bouake yesterday’s Tuesday evening.

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    Team medics performed their final tests and took the decision that he is available for the encounter after the striker arrived at the purpose-built Games Village+. When the rest of the party travelled out of Abidjan on Monday night, Osimhen was left behind at their Pullman Hotel as a result of abdominal discomfort.

  • Victor Osimhen declared fit for S’Africa clash

    Victor Osimhen declared fit for S’Africa clash

    Victor Osimhen who was carried off on a stretcher during Nigeria’s 1-0 victory over Angola with abdominal pain and doubtful for Wednesday’s semi-final clash with South Africa has been confirmed fit. 

    Though he did not travel to Bouake on Monday, the Napoli forward arrived a day later and managed to train.

    A tweet from the Super Eagles’ X account confirmed he is good to go for the cracker.  

    “Victor Osimhen has been declared fit and available for selection in the semi-final clash against South Africa on Wednesday. He has joined the team in Bouake and has trained with the squad today,” the post reads. 

    Read Also: BREAKING: Osimhen fit for South Africa clash

    South Africa will look to get back at the Super Eagles after a penalty shoot-out victory over Cape Verde last week to secure the last four tickets.

    The Super Eagles who are holding up the #LetDoItAgain campaign highly will strive to get the job done in regulation time against South Africa having won their last contest 2-1 in 2019. 

    Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro said;  “We’ve done a good job now getting to the semi-finals. We’ve shown good spirit and organisation.

    “We play like a team together. We must play a high-level match, we know the capacity of our opponent. 

    We must play at 100 percent or more to beat a very good team.”

  • BREAKING: Osimhen fit for South Africa clash

    BREAKING: Osimhen fit for South Africa clash

    Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen, has reportedly been cleared by the team’s medical staff for Wednesday’s semi-final clash against South Africa.

    The Nation reported that the Super Eagles travelled on Monday evening from Abidjan to Bouaké without star striker Victor Osimhen as a result of abdominal discomfort.

    The team’s media officer, Babafemi Raji, who confirmed the incident, said the team doctors had placed him under close watch with a member of the medical team staying behind in Abidjan with him.

    According to sources in Abidjan, Victor will join his teammates in Bouake after being declared fit and is expected to feature in the game

    Read Also: Osimhen, Lookman, Chukwueze fears grip South Africans

    The Napoli striker has been an important part of the Eagles’ superb AFCON run so far starting all five matches in Côte d’Ivoire, scoring one goal and setting up Ademola Lookman against Cameroon.

  • Eagles striker Osimhen doubtful against South Africa

    Eagles striker Osimhen doubtful against South Africa

    By Taofeek Babalola, Abidjan 

    Super Eagles travelled on Tuesday evening from Abidjan to Bouaké without star striker Victor Osimhen as a result of an abdominal discomfort.

    Member of the team left Abidjan via a 10pm Air Cote D’Ivoire flight to Bouake ahead of Wednesday’s semi-finals Africa Cup of Nations clash against South Africa.

    Read Also: Osimhen, Lookman, Chukwueze fears grip South Africans

    The team’s Media Officer, Babafemi Raji, who confirmed the incident said the team doctors has placed him under close watch with a member of the medical team staying behind in Abidjan with him.

    Babafemi added that if Osimhen gets better by tomorrow morning, he will join the rest of the squad before 5pm.

  • Osimhen, Lookman, Chukwueze fears grip South Africans

    Osimhen, Lookman, Chukwueze fears grip South Africans

    • Paul Onehi

    South Africans  have identified  the trio  of Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman  and Samuel Chukwueze  as the  Nigerian players   who  were capable  of  ending  the dream  of a place in the AFCON  2023 Final Match on Sunday.

    Ahead of tomorrow’s AFCON 2023 semifinals between Super Eagles and Bafana Bafana, a South African news outlet said the trio was the players to look out for. 

    According to James Freemantle  of   The South African, noted that  Bafana Bafana face the exciting prospect of a meeting with the mighty Nigeria in tomorrow’s AFCON semi-final as he revealed the dangerous Super Eagles to worry about.

    Read Also: Osimhen, Simon, Ekong pass CAF’s Anti-Doping Tests

    He cited  the prolific prowess  of  Osimhen , adding inter alia:“20 goals in 27 caps is a superb goal-scoring ratio at international level. Victor Osimhen is no ordinary striker, as he has proved in the past few seasons with Lille in France, and now especially with Italian champions Napoli. He fired Diego Maradona’s old team to their first Scudetto in 33 years with 26 goals in the league.

     “Osimhen has only scored just one goal in the ongoing AFCON, but still yet his presence alone in the pitch is a thing to fight for and that has help the team a lot in this tournament.

    “Yes he has been missing some chances but to be honest, the presence and effort he put up so far, is a thing to watch out for.”

    He also cited Lookman as the form man  that should  worry Bafana Bafana in this  semifinal  AFCON cracker even as he singled out Chukwueze for special mention: “Ademola Lookman was the only goal-scorer on the evening (against Angola), and Lookman also scored a brace against Cameroon in the round of 16.

    “The directness and pace of Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze will give Aubrey Modiba plenty to think about,” he added.

  • Eagles off to Bouake without ‘ stomach troubled’ Osimhen

    Eagles off to Bouake without ‘ stomach troubled’ Osimhen

    The Super Eagles  expectedly flew into  Bouake, venue of tomorrow’s decisive AFCON  2023 semi-final match against South Africa last night, without  the team’s star striker, Victor Osimhen.

     The Team’s Media Officer, Babafemi Raji, said in a terse statement  via the  Super Eagles’ whatsapp platform, that the Napoli forward  was not available for the trip  with the rest of the squad , due to what he called ‘ abdominal discomfort’.

    He said: “We will fly from Abidjan to Bouaké today via a 10pm  (11pm Nigerian time) Air Cote D’Ivoire flight.

    “ Victor Osimhen will not join us on this trip as a result of an abdominal discomfort.

    Read Also: Moses Simon: Osimhen thinks about victory, not goals

    “Team medics confirmed that he has been placed under close watch with a member of the medical team staying behind in Abidjan with him.

    “If cleared by tomorrow (today)  morning, he will join the rest of the squad before 5pm,” he added.

    Besides Osimhen, Super Eagles have no injury concerns ahead of  their clash against South Africa.
    Nationsport reports that the players are in good shape and they were all participated in the team’s training session on Monday.
    The team resumed training session on Sunday after their one day rest on Saturday following their quarter-finals victory over Angola on Friday.
    The team’s Coordinator, Patrick Pascal, said the team  remained  focused and ready for the clash.  
    “The preparation for the semi-finals has started already. We had a rest day on Saturday and we resumed training on Sunday. The preparation continued on Monday with another training session. We are ready and very focused for the game. We don’t have any injury concern in the team and all players are in good shape for the game,” Pascal said.  

  • Arsenal to challenge Chelsea for Osimhen

    Arsenal to challenge Chelsea for Osimhen

    Arsenal have reportedly  met with Victor Osimhen’s agent, as they hope to rival Chelsea for the Napoli striker’s signature, with more details emerging on his release clause.

    The Nigeria international signed a new contract with Napoli in December, but President Aurelio De Laurentiis confessed it was with the full knowledge that he would be moving on at the end of this season.

    Although Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid are also linked, the Premier League would seem to be his most likely destination and Chelsea are considered to be the favourites.

    However, the Mirror newspaper claimed  yesterday  that Arsenal have already met with Osimhen’s agent in 2022 to discuss the situation.

    Although it is known that there is a release clause in Osimhen’s new contract with Napoli, the exact figures remain something of a mystery.

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    It is believed to be somewhere around €120-130m and that figure is confirmed by this latest Mirror report, which has it at £100m-110m.

    This is merely the transfer fee and does not take into account the salary that must be offered to the 25-year-old, who last season won the Scudetto and became the first ever African Serie A top scorer.

    He is currently at the Africa Cup of Nations, having helped Nigeria reach the semi-finals.

  • Osimhen, Simon, Ekong pass CAF’s Anti-Doping Tests

    Osimhen, Simon, Ekong pass CAF’s Anti-Doping Tests

    The trio of  Victor Osimhen, Moses Simon, and William Troost-Ekong passed the Confederation of African Football (CAF) random anti-doping tests, and are now cleared to take part in their quarter-final clash with Angola on Friday.

    The CAF had randomly  picked Nigeria international striker Victor Osimhen, Super Eagles winger and defender, Moses Simon, and William Troost-Ekong for random drug tests after their last group match and 2-0 Round of 16 victory over Cameroon.

    Read Also: NPFL out to enforce anti-doping tests

    Osimhen was one of the top performers as the Super Eagles squad cruised past the group stage in the Round of 16 clash against Cameroon.

    Reports indicated that the Nigerian international underwent the test following the match against Guinea-Bissau.

    FC Nantes winger, Simon Moses, and Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong were also subjected to dope tests.

    The random tests are standard procedures, typically conducted on players whose enhanced energy levels may raise suspicions of substance use.

    Additionally, sources revealed that two Cameroonian players also underwent similar tests, noting that Osimhen is not the sole player involved in the tournament.

    Meanwhile, Coach Peseiro’s side will face Angola in the quarterfinals of the 2023 AFCON tournament on Friday.

  • Tinubu salutes ‘relentless’ Osimhen

    Tinubu salutes ‘relentless’ Osimhen

    Victor Osimhen’s whole-hearted contribution to Super Eagles 2-0 victory over the Indomitable Lions has received top praise from President Bola Tinubu.

    The Napoli striker outmuscled Cameroonian marker Gonzalez before he threaded the pass for Ademola Lookman to open scoring in an AFCON Round of 16 clash Saturday night.

     “Osimhen did well to stay strong,” saluted President in a video clip as he watched the match live on television.

    Two-goal hero against Cameroon Lookman scooped the CAF Man of the Match Award, but Osimhen was also lavished with praise for his role in a sweet victory by the Super Eagles.

     “My MOTM is Victor (Osimhen),” former Super Eagles striker Odion Ighalo saluted. “He ran all 90 minutes, chased the defenders for 90 minutes.

    “That young man has too much strength. Wow!”

    Former Super Eagles captain Sunday Oliseh described the Napoli star as “Africa’s Ballon d’Or”, while Ghanaian legend Asamoah Gyan said the passion Osimhen played with as what other players should take a cue from.

    Super Eagles won’t  underrate Palancas Negras ,says  Peseiro

    Head Coach José Peseiro has warned his Super Eagles to keep level heads and manage the euphoria of their quarter-final qualification, as they countenance a potentially-tough last-eight clash with Angola’s Palancas Negras on Friday.

    Read Also: AFCON 2023: Football fans caution Super Eagles against underrating Angola

    The Portuguese gaffer told thenff.com  that he has continued to sing it to the players that the team is yet to win anything, and that full consciousness and concentration must be activated ahead of the evening encounter at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny.

     “I am telling them that we are only in the last-8, that we still have some way to go, and that the farther we go, the tougher the opposition becomes. We have played four matches and won three, so we must keep level heads as we go forward.

     “Our philosophy is that there are no small teams here at the Africa Cup. Every team qualified to be here, and every team in the knockout phase qualified from a group phase. Any team in the last-8 is good enough for the trophy. We believe we are good enough for the trophy, but we must continue working and putting out our best on match days.”

     The Negras eliminated Namibia’s Brave Warriors with a 3-0 spanking in the Round of 16, Gelson Dala hitting a brace against the regional rivals at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake.