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Galatasaray's Nigerian star Victor Osimhen told Italian financial police that he was pressured to join Napoli in the summer of 2020 despite mourning his father’s death, describing the transfer as a period of personal and professional turmoil.
His testimony forms part of an ongoing investigation into alleged false accounting by Napoli executives in connection with the €70 million ($80.94 million) transfer from French club Lille.
Speaking to the Italian financial police, Osimhen said that then-Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis pushed him to finalize the deal at a time when his father was gravely ill. "My agent told me Napoli was interested, but all he cared about was completing the transfer. My father was sick, and I only wanted to know how he was doing. Football was secondary," Osimhen stated in his testimony, according to Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport.
He added that shortly after his father passed away, he was told he had to travel to Naples the next day. "I was furious because I couldn’t see my father before he died. I went to Naples out of respect for Lille’s president, but I had no intention of signing anything," he said, describing meetings with then-coach Gennaro Gattuso and De Laurentiis on the island of Capri.
Osimhen told investigators that confusion surrounded the contract terms and that he felt deceived by his agent at the time, Jean Gerard. "When I returned to the hotel, I asked for the contract draft. He told me he didn’t have it. Later, he showed me a piece of paper that wasn’t an actual contract. I got angry and wanted to return to France," he recalled.
He said that after taking a brief break in Paris, he ended his relationship with Gerard and appointed William D’Avila to manage the remainder of the negotiations. "Seeing Napoli’s genuine interest, I signed the contract in Lille at the end of July," Osimhen said. Representatives from both clubs, including Napoli’s Maurizio Micheli and Lille’s president Gerard Lopez, attended the signing.
Osimhen also disclosed that in December 2021, he borrowed €550,000 from his current agent Roberto Calenda to cover family expenses, promising to repay the amount. The detail is part of a broader investigation by prosecutors Lorenzo del Giudice and Giorgio Orano, who have requested the indictment of De Laurentiis and Napoli CEO Andrea Chiavelli on charges of false accounting.
The preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 6. The Italian Football Association previously closed its sporting investigation into Napoli’s 2020 transfer operations in 2022, but criminal proceedings remain open.
During his time at Napoli, Osimhen became a Serie A champion in the 2022–2023 season, leading the league with 26 goals and becoming the first African player ever to win the Capocannoniere (Serie A top scorer award). His performances earned him the CAF Men’s Player of the Year award in 2023.
In 2024, he joined Galatasaray on loan, playing a crucial role in the Yellow-Reds’ 25th Turkish Super Lig title. During the 2025 summer transfer window, Galatasaray made his move permanent with a record €75 million deal.
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