Victor Osimhen salary: Napoli could make Super Eagle richest Nigerian athlete

Victor Osimhen salary: Napoli could make Super Eagle richest Nigerian athlete
Credit: Icon Sport

After a protracted discussion with Napoli over terms of a contract renewal, the Victor Osimhen salary account is about to see a big increase.

The 24-year-old is already the most valuable Nigerian player but is about to climb up the ladder even further in terms of his football earnings.

While he is not close to earning like Sadio Mané, Riyad Mahrez and Mohamed Salah do, the striker will become the highest earner in Serie A and Napoli’s entire history.

The Osimhen salary in Napoli’s new contract offer is about to make the Super Eagles ace Nigeria’s richest athlete.

Napoli bump Osimhen salary to €12 million per annum

Enough has been said about the goalscoring exploits of the striker but Osimhen's salary did not reflect it.

Usually, the best players get the biggest bags just like Manchester United did with Marcus Rashford and Paris Saint-Germain with Kylian Mbappe. Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis realised this fact, especially when his talismanic forward started to draw transfer attention from teams who could afford to pay him a killing.

He set to work trying to dissuade those teams and putting in place structures to increase the AFCON 2023 qualifiers' top scorer’s salary. After a long summer of the Nigeria football news media wondering if the Osimhen salary would lead to him leaving Italy, De Laurentiis has now shown that he is capable of running a football club like the bigger teams.

Reports from Il Mattino indicate that Osimhen will now receive €12 million per annum once his agent and De Laurentiis finalise the other details of the new contract he is being offered.

One of those details is the release clause that Osimhen has asked Napoli to include in the new contract.

This is in case he continues to hold the interest of the top clubs like PSG, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester United who De Laurentiis had to fend off in order to keep his prized assets.

While Osimhen is ready to pledge his immediate future to the Partenopei, he does not want them to stop him from going to another club that interests him.

Osimhen salary
Credit: Icon Sport

There will also be a clause for Saudi Arabia, after their humongous offer during the whole Osimhen transfer saga. Reports indicate that the Saudi release clause will be €150 million while the release clauses for European teams will be around €100 million.

Osimhen salary sees him beat Mikel, Ighalo, Musa as highest earning player

Many Nigerian players have played football with lucrative contracts. Former captain John Obi Mikel earned as high as €150,000 while he was at Chelsea. Odion Ighalo earned as high as €200,000 while he played in China and Saudi Arabia. The same goes for current Nigeria national football team captain Ahmed Musa.

However, with Osimhen salary going from €5.5 million per annum (€105,000 per week) to €12 million per annum (€230,000 per week), the 24-year-old will officially become Nigeria’s best-paid athlete.

Napoli have significantly improved Osimhen salary but Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal were ready to offer him a salary in the region of €300,000 a week.

The striker, meanwhile, is not bothered with all the talk as he is only intent on proving that last season was not a fluke. He is gearing up for Napoli’s opening day Serie A fixture against newly promoted side Frosinone on Saturday 19 August 2023, where he will begin his golden boot defence and also begin the journey to a second straight Scudetto.

Napoli manager Rudi Garcia said about the whole Osimhen salary and transfer saga: “I want Osimhen to be happy. The club and the player have executed commendable efforts. He’s an essential driving force for us; we rely on his goal-scoring capabilities.

“Once the agreement is official, he’ll be able to focus solely on his on-field contributions, a prospect that I find preferable.”

This article was most recently revised and updated 1 year ago

Daniel Kolade
All-round lover of the beautiful game. Massive football fan, supported Arsenal for decades for reasons that are unexplainable. One day we will win the Champions League!
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