Victor Osimhen Biography | Origin, Everything we know
We presents the full life story of African football star, Victor James Osimhen. This article will bring you to a full account of notable events from his childhood time to date.
This biography involves his early life, family background, education, history, career overview, early career life, the road to fame, rise to fame story, relationship life, personal life, family facts, lifestyle, salary and net worth, statistics, and other little-known facts about him.
Table of Contents
WHO IS VICTOR OSIMHEN?
Osimhen has been one of the most in-form African players in the world game so far this term, scoring ten goals in the space of 19 matches for LOSC Lille and Nigeria after moving from Wolfsburg July 2019.
After scoring 20 goals in Belgium last season, Osimhen was delighted to follow compatriots Peter Odemwingie and Vicent Enyeama. He adapted seamlessly to life in a new league, country, club, and city. Even if his form has dipped in recent weeks, the 20-year-old has already dramatically over-performed since moving to France for an undisclosed fee reported to be €12 million.
Victor after completing his move to LOSC Lille
Osimhen appears set to be the figurehead of the Super Eagles’ attack for a decade to come. Seemingly, he can be the man to break Rashidi Yekini’s 37 record goal haul for the national side after adding to his tally in a 2-1 comeback win over the Benin Republic at Wilson Akpabio Stadium, Uyo.
Victor Osimhen Biography CAREER OVERVIEW
His impressive form for Charleroi last season earned him a recall to the Super Eagles squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, where his only appearance was when Nigeria won bronze last month.
Osimhen was the top scorer as Nigeria clinched a fifth Under-17 World Cup title in 2015 with ten goals in Chile, which saw him win the Golden Boot and Silver Ball.
After the tournament, he decided against joining the English side Arsenal to sign with the 2009 German champions Wolfsburg in January 2016. Still, injuries restricted him to 16 appearances for the club in all competitions.
Despite being a part of the squad for two years, his lack of games meant he missed out on going to the 2018 World Cup with Nigeria, and he swiftly moved to Belgium initially on loan before joining on a permanent deal.
Osimhen was also part of the Nigeria side that won the Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal in November 2015, which also qualified them for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The exploits saw him crowned the 2015 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Youth Player of the Year.
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He has played for Nigeria at all levels, from under-17 to the full senior side, for whom he has won eight caps, scoring two goals from the penalty spot in the process.
In October 2019, Osimhen saw off the challenges of Monaco’s Algerian international Islam Slimani and veteran Nantes defender Nicolas Palais to the monthly honor awarded by the Player’s Union (UNFP) for French Ligue 1’s best player in September. He succeeds Angola-born Rennes midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, who won the August award and became the youngest ever winner at 16.
How old is Victor Osimhen
Victor Osimhen was born on 29 December 1998 to his late mother and father, Elder Patrick Osimhen, in Lagos, Nigeria. He was brought up by his father following the death of his mother. He is the last of seven children. Life was not a roses bed for him before he hit stardom at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup as he once sold sachets of water in Lagos traffic to help his family.
What state is Victor Osimhen from?
Victor’s parents have their family origin from Southern Nigeria in Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo State in Nigeria. The family name “Osimhen” means ‘God is good’ in the native Ishan dialect.
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Like many notable footballers in Nigeria, Victor Osimhen came from a low-income family background. Before he was born, his parents decided to relocate to Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria. Even while at Lagos, the family faced hardship, one which was so biting that little Victor, then a toddler, was made to face the scorching sun in Lagos traffic where the mother used to sell sachet water to supplement her paltry income.
Victor Osimhen grew up alongside his brother Andrew and four other siblings in Olusosun, a small community around Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos. This community accommodates one of the largest dumpsites in Africa. Growing up in his formative years, Victor Osimhen hustled and hawked sachet water and other household commodities on the streets to raise funds for his education and family survival.
The future of Victor Osimhen was once thrown into confusion following a family crisis over his transfer. Members of his family were against one another over who should represent the player.
According to online reports, Osimhen’s uncle, Michael, once lead a faction of agents while Andrew, his elder arrowhead of the other group. Both groups had their agents who fought over transfer monies and the authentic rights to represent the player. The family crisis got a new dimension when reports also emerged in the media that thugs beat the Osimhen’s father over his refusal to endorse the player’s move to Wolfsburg. It was later de-bunked to be false. It took sometime before the family crisis ended.
Victor Osimhen, who happens to be the breadwinner of his family, is glad to have forged his family’s path toward financial independence, all thanks to football. All family members (as observed below) who stood by him during his dark moments are presently enjoying the full dividends which professional football brings.
Elder Patrick Osimhen is the sole surviving parent and biological father of Victor Osimhen. He was once the manager of his son until 2015 when he handed over the management’s responsibility to French agent Oliver Noah of Noga Sports Management.
When Patrick Osimhen was the legal guardian of his son, he ran into issues with other agents trying to bypass him to earn monies from his son’s transfer to Wolfsburg. While trying to bypass him, these sets of persons preferred to deal with his first son, Andrew Osimhen, over contract negotiations for Victor Osimhen.
According to reports, it appears the mother of Victor Osimhen’s is late. As at the time of writing, the Nigerian striker honors his mother by having her photo as his profile image on his Instagram account.
Victor’s love for his siblings has no bounds that he once dedicated his Golden Boot Award to one of his sisters after she gave birth to a baby girl just when he won the award, around November 2015.
Origin EDUCATION
Olusosun Primary School, which he attended, served as the football meeting point for all school pupils and youngsters in the community.
Every evening, many boys, including Victor, go to the footballing field to watch his elder brother, a local football star in the community.
The firstborn of their family, whose name is Andrew, abandoned his education to earn monies to take care of Victor and his other siblings.
Aides hawking, Victor, also learned to play football thanks to his elder brother, Andrew.
He was also passionate about Chelsea FC as he watched the team play in viewing centers. Together with members of his family members, he was a huge fan of the Nigerian team (Super Eagles). The support for the team and his passion for playing the sport created the desire to become a professional.
Seeing that his little brother was more talented, Andrew had to abandon the game to face his newspaper business. He also threw away the idea of furthering his education to raise money to help his little brother, who he envisaged to be a superstar.
RISE OF VICTOR OSIMHEN
It took no time before the family’s dream began to pay off as local football scouts noticed something special about Victor and then invited him to Ulitmate Strikers Academy in Lagos, where he had his first successful trial.
In the year 2014, Victor Osimhen’s performance with Ultimate Strikers saw him getting invited by coach Amuneke to represent his country U-17 team. He was instrumental in helping the team qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, which was held in Chile.
Even before the tournament kicked off in Chile, Osimhen was touted as a favorite to win the Adidas Golden Ball, having scored 39 goals in 71 outings for his country at that point, and finished as top scorer at the U-17 African Championship in March.
The striker, who names Côte d’Ivoire forward Didier Drogba as his role model, more than lived up to Chile’s expectations after finding the net in all seven games at the competition.
Osimhen put his side 1-0 up on four occasions. His effort in the final – his tenth goal overall – set a new tournament record, beating the previous best mark set by Côte d’Ivoire’s Souleymane Coulibaly in 2011 and France’s Florent Sinama Pongolle in 2001.
Osimhen duly finished as top scorer in South America, and would doubtless not begrudge his team captain, of all players, pipping him to what would have been a second golden award.
How much does Victor Osimhen cost?
After the World Cup, it was revealed that big clubs from Europe, Arsenal, Man City, and Tottenham Hotspur were after his services. Shockingly, Victor Osimhen rejected all offers because another middle-weight club had offered him the biggest money.
Moments after he was named the 2015 African Youth Player of the Year at the CAF Awards in Abuja in January 2016, Osimhen announced that he would be pursuing his professional career with the German Bundesliga club, Wolfsburg.
According to him, the club’s assurances plus monies was more of a morale booster for his family and that he prefers playing for the German club rather any top in Europe.
Victor was transferred from his local club in Lagos, Ultimate Striker Academy, to the 2009 Bundesliga winner for $3,970,225 (₦1.4 billion). The transfer fee made him one of the most expensive players to be signed directly from a nursery team in Africa to a top European team.
Osimhen signed a three-and-a-half-year pre-contract deal until June 2020 and made his debut in the German top-flight in May 2017. Just after four months of making his Bundesliga debut, troubles began to loom for the Nigerian. A shoulder injury made him go into surgery, which brought a premature end to his first season. Finishing at this poor level, Victor Osimhen became so unmarketable by the top club.
Osimhen nightmares continued after his recovery from his shoulder injury. This time, it was the sickness that took over, making him miss pre-season and most painfully, missing out on Nigeria’s 2018 world cup selections as he was in the hospital at the tournament in Russia.
Is Victor Osimhen good?
It took Osimhen about two painful seasons to come out of his nightmares. The inconsistency due to injury and sickness saw him scoring zero (0) goals at Wolfsburg, thereby ruining his career.
Moving on, Osimhen made up his mind to attend summer trials with Belgian clubs Zulte Waregem and Club Brugge, who at that time were the reigning champions. AGAIN, his health hit rock bottom as he fell sick of malaria, which affected his physical condition and made both clubs to reject him.
On 22 August 2018, Belgian club Charleroi accepted him on a season-long loan deal. Victor Osimhen made his full debut on 22 September, scoring his first goal as a backheel professional. After the game, Osimhen told BBC Sport that he had “found his happiness again after such a long wait.”
The patient Nigerian had a successful spell with the Belgian side, playing 36 games and scoring 20 goals, a feat which made his club, Charleroi, activating their option to acquire him while on loan. After dominating football in Belgium, the Nigerian felt it was the right time to climb his way back as a leading African striker, which he once was. In July 2019, he made an upward move in his career by signing for Lille OSC.
Victor Osimhen Biography – Image Credit: BBC Sport
Rather than crumble with shoulder injuries and malaria, the Nigerian striker grew from strength to strength, enduring a meteoric rise to prominence to become one of football’s hottest properties, Africa.
Victor Osimhen RELATIONSHIP LIFE
He is currently not married but was romantically involved with a young lady named Blessing Osimhen when he was 16 years.
There is no denying the fact that Osimhen’s endearing qualities, including handsomeness, loyalty, hard work, and humility wouldn’t make ladies believe he would make a better boyfriend.
During his alleged relationship period with Blessing, both lovers regularly shared each other’s pictures on Instagram. Osimhen’s alleged relationship with his girlfriend was made public for about two years before deciding to delete traces of her from every single one of his social media handles.
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Since her information was wiped out on his social media, rumors kept existing, which claimed that Blessing wasn’t Osimhen’s girlfriend but his betrothed wife.
Victor Osimhen Biography – LIFESTYLE
Apart from soccer, music is certainly the only thing that catches his fancy. He has waxed lyrically about his life-changing loan deal from Wolfsburg in the German Bundesliga to Charleroi in the Belgian Jupiler League.
He loves listening to Contemporary R&B music with his favorite remaining “I believe I can fly,” the hit track song by music star R Kelly. Sometimes, he sings Kelly’s song in his way during his first goal celebration for Charleroi against Waasland-Beveren. In the area of local Nigerian music, Osimhen sticks with rapper Olamide, and his favorite track from the Nigerian hip-hop artist is “Sitting on the Throne.”
On social media, Osimhen is one of Nigeria’s most popular footballers, with over 125,000 fans following him. His Instagram number stands at 111k and 14.2k followers on his unverified Twitter account.
Victor Osimhen Net worth
He reportedly earns an estimated €950,000 annually from Lille and has an estimated net worth of $2.31 million. His current market value stands at €13 million.
He also endorses and promotes products, including Nike, from which he makes good money as his glamorous lifestyle is evident by a handful of mansions and his many luxurious cars.
STATISTICS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Full name: Victor James Osimhen
Date of birth: 29 December 1998 (20)
Place of birth: Lagos, Nigeria
Nationality: Nigeria
Height 185 cm
Weight: 78 kg
Playing Position (s): Centre Forward and Left Winger.
Stronger Foot: Right
Total club appearances: 69. Total Goals: 29
Total international appearances: 8. Total Goals: 2
FIFA U-17 World Cup: (1) 2015
FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Boot: (1) 2015
FIFA U-17 World Cup Silver Ball: (1) 2015
CAF Youth Player of the Year: (1) 2015
