What is Victor Osimhen still waiting for not to take up a salary of one Million Euros-a-week (over 800 Million Naira) Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal are offering him?
To put this offer in a proper perspective is that he will earn in a month what he currently earns in a year at Napoli.
And he now has a chance to hit this jackpot for the next three years.
Why do you play professional football?
For the money.
As an amateur footballer, you pay to play the game, while as a professional you are paid money to play football.
Osimhen, the boy from the slums of Lagos, has already achieved greatness as a professional footballer.
Last season, his goals led Napoli to win the Scudetto for the first time since 1990.
The 24-year-old striker also became the first African to finish as top scorer in the Italian Serie A with 26 goals.
He was named the best striker of the season.
So doing, he broke many records including that of George Weah as the most prolific African player in the Italian top league.
He is now the star of the Super Eagles after he won the 2015 FIFA U17 World Cup as the record top scorer with 10 goals.
He already has his legacy in football, along with a little fortune and fame.
Will he lose his place in the Super Eagles because he will be plying his trade in Saudi Arabia?
No.
Odion Ighalo kept his place in the national team when he played in the oil-rich kingdom.
Osimhen is still the only genuine world-class player in the Eagles and Nigeria will again count on him for the goals to qualify for the 2026 World Cup wherever he is playing his club football.
In December, his greatness will be cemented when he is named the best African player for 2023.
Two CAF Player of the Year winners, Riyad Mahrez and Sadio Mane as well as Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, severally the best player in the world, have secured their financial future by moving to Saudi Arabia.
Former Nigeria World Cup Michael Emenalo as the new technical director of the Saudi league will ensure massive improvements in the standard of the competition.
Some have also questioned if the Saudi in-roads to world football can be sustained after the bust suffered in China.
While the Chinese boom was mainly driven by private companies, that of Saudi Arabia is backed by funding from the state, which is one of the waelthiest in the world.
So, after all said – why should Osimhen not take the cash from the Saudis?
