Osimhen living up to his promise

FIFA U-17 World Cup leading scorer Victor Osimhen could be the next Golden Eaglet star to hit the English Premier League, after reports came out that an EPL club offered to pay upwards of a million dollars for the Ultimate Strikers Academy player.

With an outstanding team packed with talented players, Nigeria successfully defended their crown at the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2015 that just concluded in Chile.

Furthermore, the west Africans took centre stage when it came to the individual honours too. Top scorer Victor Osimhen and captain Kelechi Nwakali both made their mark on the competition in numerous ways. After winning the adidas Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player, Osimhen followed in the footsteps of Cesc Fabregas and Toni Kroos, who are now key members of the senior sides with their respective national teams. The forward set a new U-17 World Cup goalscoring record scoring in each of Nigeria’s six matches, including a hat-trick against Australia in the group stage.

Adidas Golden Boot: Victor Osimhen (Nigeria/10 goals, 2 assists)

Arsenal and Manchester City have also been watching him closely but have been concentrating on his international team-mate and captain Kelechi Nwakali.

 

 

Adidas Silver Ball: Victor Osimhen (Nigeria)
Even before the tournament kicked off in Chile Osimhen was touted as a favourite to win the adidas Golden Ball, having scored 39 goals in 71 outings for his country at that point, and finished as top scorer at the U-17 African Championship in March. The striker, who names Côte d’Ivoire forward Didier Drogba as his role model, more than lived up to expectations in Chile after finding the net in all seven games at the competition. Osimhen put his side 1-0 up on four occasions and his effort in the final – his tenth goal overall – set a new tournament record, beating the previous best-mark set by Côte d’Ivoire’s Souleymane Coulibaly in 2011 and France’s Florent Sinama Pongolle in 2001. Osimhen duly finished as top scorer in South America, and would doubtless not begrudge his team captain, of all players, pipping him to what would have been a second golden award.

Tottenham are reported to be showing keen interest in Nigeria scoring sensation Victor Osimhen. Scouts from across Europe have been following his performances and Tottenham have made contact with representatives from his Ultimate Strikers Academy.

Osimhen, 17 in December, has scored eight goals as Nigeria romped to a seventh semi-final in the U17 World Cup. “Tottenham are willing to splash the cash for Osimhen. They want to start the bidding from a million pounds,” a top source familiar with this interest disclosed. Osimhen knows his way to goal and has great techinique for a big centre-forward. He could also drift to the wings to create space for his teammates.

Manchester City signed Kelechi Iheanacho and Chidiebere Nwakali and Musa Yahaya was reportedly snapped up by Tottenham Hotspur when Nigeria won a record fourth U17 World Cup two years ago.