Victor Osimhen’s delayed move away from Losc Lille is unsettling the nerves of the club’s chiefs who are running out of time in their bid generate the fund needed to balance the books and stay out of trouble, Completesports.com reports.
According to a report on Footmercato.net, the management of Lille has until July 16 2020 to submit a new budget to Nationale du Controle de Gestion (DNCG) [National Directorate of Management Control] – a body that supervises the accounts of French clubs. Lille’s first submission before the covid-19 pandemic was flawed by the body.
Last week, the sports show of Monaco and France-based radio station, RMC – as published by Getfootballnewsfrance.com, reported that Lille were making moves to rake in €150million to €160million from player sales with which to authenticate their initial business plan submitted to the French football’s financial watchdog.
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Lille are looking to make rake in more than €100millon from the the sale of two players – Osimhen, and their Brazilian defender, Gabriel. And Napoli’s readiness to pay a handsome €80million for Osimhen, excluding add-ons, makes it a promising sales target for the club.
Boubakary Soumare, Zeki Celik and Jonathan Ikone are the other transfer targets that Lille are drooling over to make the needed money.
Time is however no longer on the side of the Lille chiefs since Osimhen’s visit to Napoli failed to yield a sealed deal, with the Super Eagles striker asking for more time to think about the offer.
Napoli are already into a frenzy wait for the decision of the striker, as reflected by manager Gennaro Gattuso’s tart response to a question about his top target during a post-match press conference on Wednesday evening.
“Osimhen? It has different circumstances. When he arrives, I will explain to you. For now, he still belongs to Lille,” the Napoli coach told the media.
While the certainty is that Osimhen is making a move away from Lille in this summer, the uncertainty is his destination. But Lille certainly want a big-money transfer to be sealed in the coming days.
Osimhen’s market value has expectedly soared from the €12million Lille spent to acquire him from Belgian side, Sporting Charleroi in August 2019 following his superlative performance in the his first season.
The 21 year old scorched a red trail with his 18 goals and six assists for Lille in all competitions. He also came away with Lille MVP award and the Ligue 1 Best African Player of the Season award.
And now Osimhen is spoilt for choice as to where next to ply his trade. Napoli, Liverpool, and many others are waiting for the ‘yes’ of the youngster.
By Nnamdi Ezekute
