Lille’s sporting director predicts big move for Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen

Campos says he has been monitoring Osimhen since the striker's U17 days.

Lille’s sporting director Luis Campos who green lighted Victor Osimhen’s signing for the Ligue 1 club has predicted a big move for the Super Eagles striker. 

Osimhen has had a fantastic start to life in France with Lille where he has scored eight goals in 11 games in all competitions. 

The striker’s feat so far at Lille is however not a surprise for the club’s sporting director who revealed that he had wanted to sign him since his U17 days. 

“I went to Lagos to see the U17 World Championships. After one match I wanted him. But his price was very expensive for a 17-year-old," Campos told Sky Sports. 

“I spoke to my CEO. I called him every night saying, ‘Please give me this player, he is amazing. In two years he will be one of the best in Europe’.” 

Eye for talent

Luis Campos has had a hand in the discovery of some exciting talents including Osimhen (Sky Sport)

Campos has an impressive track record of unearthed talent at Monaco where he played a role in the discovery and development of likes of Kylian Mbappe, James Rodriguez, Anthony Martial, Fabinho, Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy.

He said he continued to monitor Osimhen when the Nigeria international joined Wolfsburg and later Belgian club Charleroi. 

“In the end, the player went to Wolfsburg. I went to Wolfsburg just to see him play. Sometimes he only played for five minutes, sometimes only two,” he also said. 

“I was crazy for him! Then he had a virus and had five or six months not playing and went to Charleroi in Belgium. Two months later I signed him. So itʼs a nice story. I lost the player but then got him back.”

At Lille, he helped them finish second in the league last season and brought in Nicolas Pepe who joined Arsenal in the summer of 2019. 

A big move like that is what Campos is expecting for Osimhen who he describes as a ‘cat’. 

“If all is normal at the end of the season there will be a big move for him because he’s like a cat,” he further said. 

“You know if you have a cat and give it a ball! Heʼs unbelievable. In the last 20 metres, he attacks every ball. Every ball. Like a cat.”

With club football on break for the international break, Osimhen has joined up with the Super Eagles of Nigeria ahead of their friendly game against Brazil on Sunday, October 13.