‘I was cleaning gutters’ – Napoli star Victor Osimhen recalls childhood struggles
Nigeria international and Napoli star Victor Osimhen is one of Europe’s leading attackers. In September last year, the 22-year-old signed for Napoli from Lille for 70 million Euros – a deal that made him the most expensive African footballer in history.
In an interview with King Ekong – a YouTube channel owned by his national teammate William Troost-Ekong, Osimhen says the move to the Italian Serie A and becoming the most expensive African player had always been a dream.
“It feels good. It started like a dream,” Osimhen said. “A boyhood dream from the slum. I just wanted to become a professional player – inspired by a lot of great legends, like Didier Drogba, Mikel Obi, Odion Ighalo and the rest, and I feel to be able to achieve this feat is one of my biggest achievements in life. I’m grateful to God.”
But Osimhen didn’t just land on riches and he never had it rosy. The young striker had a challenging life while growing up in Lagos, Nigeria. He reveals that he had to clean gutters and do other cleaning jobs for neighbours just to survive and support his family also. Only seven years ago, Osimhen was still in Lagos, hustling.
“Where I grew up, nothing is promised there because whatsoever you want to get, you have to work so hard for it. I remember while I was growing up, I was cleaning the gutter for 20 Naira for my [late] landlord,” he said.
“I did some cleaning jobs for my neighbours, fetching water for them for 80 Naira, and I found pleasure in doing these things. When I work so hard to get this money, it’s so important for me how I get this money because I’m conscious of how I spend this money and I helped my family with it.
“While growing up, my brother was selling newspaper, my sister was selling oranges and me I was in traffic chasing cars to give them water to get money and give them back the change.
“I feel like the struggles have really helped me in life and I’m grateful for where I am today because what I’ve been through have shaped me to the man I am today and I’m really grateful to God for that.”
This season, Osimhen has helped Napoli maintain their 100% winning start in the Serie A – the club are top of the league table with a maximum 21 points from seven rounds of matches. Meanwhile, the Nigerian has scored four times in six league appearances and even claimed the Serie A Player of the Month award for September.
