Posted by Victor Osimhen declined a contract worth £1 million per week.
For the Super Eagles striker, Al Hilal offered Napoli an offer worth €140 million, with the player’s weekly salary rumored to be about £1 million.
Osimhen replied “no.”
Instead, the current Serie A leading scorer is negotiating a contract extension with the league champions.
The 24-year-old is anticipated to agree to a new two-year contract with Napoli that will run through 2027 and include a €150 million release clause.
On social media, there was a lot of discussion about Osimhen’s choice to pass on a lucrative move to the Middle East, especially among Nigerian football enthusiasts.
One camp said the athlete ought to have returned to Europe while still in the prime of his career by agreeing to a three-year contract with Al Hilal.
The opposing side contended that Osimhen had just made a splash and couldn’t just up and depart for Saudi Arabia while his stock was still increasing.
The co-producer and host of The Hindsight Podcast, Yubby Ndunofit, says, “I have two perspectives: the sentimental and the ambitious one.
“In my opinion, African athletes cannot even pretend to act or think like European players for a moment.
“Since Osimhen is from Africa, his decision-making process shouldn’t be as much influenced by the shiny European Champions League, which is essentially his primary motivation for staying in Europe.
“It should have been an easy choice to accept the opportunity to become arguably Africa’s highest paid athlete of all time.
“Have you seen what Mane has been doing in his community in Senegal with less than £150,000 per week at Liverpool?”
Osimehn has earned more money than he can ever need, granted. But once you reach a certain point, you begin to consider the community.