Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen has said that Ivory Coast Didier Drogba will forever be his idol.
Osimhen recently joined Napoli from French club Lille in a deal worth $96m according to L’Equipe, making him the most expensive African player ever ahead of Arsenal’s Nicholas Pepe (from Lille).
Osimhen said that he is looking forward to meeting Drogba, a former captain and record goal scorer for Ivory Coast.
“Drogba would forever be my idol and I’m so grateful to him,” Osimhen told CAF Website.
“Choosing him as a role model has really been helpful since my growing up years. I have not met him yet and I’m really looking forward to seeing him and getting one of his signed jerseys; that would really be a dream come true for me.”
Drogba was named African Footballer of the Year twice, winning the accolade in 2006 and 2009.
Osimhen broke to the scene in 2015 at the Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Niger where he was top scorer. He was named CAF Youth Player of the Year 2015.
He has played for Wolfsburg before he was loaned to Cheleroi in Belgium.
On how he will deal with language barrier in Serie A, he commented:
“When I moved to Wolfsburg, I had to learn the German language.
“Since then, dealing with language stuff has been easier, either when I moved to Belgium, France or now Italy. Of course, I’m going to get an Italian language teacher soon.”
In French Ligue 1 last season, Osimhen scored 18 goals from 38 games where he was named the Best African player (Marc Vivian Foe Award).
“I just want to score as much as I can for my team, help them doing well and winning trophies,” he said ahead of Serie A kickoff. “So, there is no personal targets for me; I just want to do well and get the goals for my team.”
“There is no pressure on me since I came here rather, I just need to work and do what I loved doing. I just need to do my work on the pitch and give my all like I have always been doing and getting the goals for both my club and country. This is the most important thing for me and there is no pressure at all. I just want to do my thing in my own way.
“looking forward to a new career here in Serie A. Playing against the likes of Christian Ronaldo is something one can eagerly wait. While at Lille, I had the opportunity of playing against some of the best players in the world like Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and it would definitely be a whole great experience to play against Ronaldo, who is one of the greatest players on earth. So, I’m looking forward to facing him soon.”
