Osimhen was forced to change agents, claims Iovino

Victor Osimhen’s former agent, Franco Iovino of Star Factory, claimed the forward dumped his agency on the advice of Lille, who wanted to sell him only to Napoli because of the relationship between the presidents of the clubs, reports goal.com.

The 21-year-old delivered stunning performances in his debut campaign for the Parthenopeans, which generated interest from a number of European clubs, including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and the Parthenopeans.

Napoli, however, have been in the front of the race to secure the signature of the highly-rated striker, but negotiations for the transfer was delayed with Iovino revealing the forward was hesitant in completing the deal.

Osimhen had previously expressed his fears about racism in Italy and Senegal international Kalidou Koulibaly confirmed the Nigeria international called him to make an enquiry about racial discrimination in the European country.

Last week, L’Equipe revealed negotiations have now reopened after the forward made up his mind to join the Stadio San Paolo outfit and Goal confirmed the Super Eagles centre-forward changed his agent.

“It was not clear what happened. Perhaps something fishy went down, probably between the Presidents of Lille and Napoli,” Iovino told Radio Punto Nuovo, as per Football Italia.

“The negotiations didn’t slow down because of Star Factory but because the player kept hesitating. William D’Avila is a home agent in Lille. The club will surely have advised Osimhen to leave us and go with him.

“They will certainly have promised him money. Lille for some reason wanted to only sell to Napoli because there’s an excellent relationship between the Presidents.

“At the moment, my company doesn’t need to look itself in the mirror, the two clubs do.”

The forward joined the Stade Pierre-Mauroy outfit last summer from Belgian side Sporting Charleroi and delivered impressive performances.

Osimhen scored 18 goals and provided six assists in 38 appearances across all competitions, winning the club’s Player of the Season award among other accolades.

He broke into the limelight at the 2015 U17 World Cup in Chile, where he won the Golden Boot and Silver Ball awards to help Nigeria win the title.

Following his eye-catching performances in the competition, the forward teamed up with German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg, where he endured a difficult spell before he moved to Charleroi.

The Ultimate Strikers Academy graduate has nine caps for the Super Eagles and was part of Gernot Rohr’s side that finished third at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.