Star forward Osimhen signs Napoli contract extension

NAPLES, Italy (AP) — Napoli’s star forward Victor Osimhen signed a contract extension Saturday tying him to the Serie A champion until 2026.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis posted pictures of him and Osimhen smiling and signing paperwork and shaking hands, along with the word “done.” The club put up the same pictures four minutes later with the caption “Victor & Napoli together until 2026.”

It is more good news for the freshly crowned African player of the year.

His current deal was set to expire in 2025 and Italian media reported that his salary has been more than doubled to 10 million euros ($11 million) per season, with a release clause between 120 million and 130 million euros.

Napoli reportedly refused an offer of more than 200 million euros for Osimhen from a team in Saudi Arabia in the offseason.

Osimhen, who turns 25 next week, was signed from Lille in 2020 for a fee of around 75 million euros and the Nigeria international went on to establish himself as one of the most exciting strikers in the world.

He helped fire Napoli to the Serie A title last season, when his 26 goals saw him become the first African player to finish as the Italian league’s top goalscorer.

Osimhen had a mixed start to this season after Rudi Garcia replaced title-winning coach Luciano Spalletti. Indeed, a departure in the winter transfer window seemed a distinct possibility in September when an irate Osimhen deleted almost all pictures of himself in the team’s shirt from his social media accounts after the soccer club posted a mocking video of him online.

Osimhen was also injured while on international duty and while he was out, the club replaced Garcia with Walter Mazzarri.

Osimhen has nevertheless scored seven league goals this season, putting him third in the scoring charts. Napoli was playing at Roma later Saturday and was looking to move level with fourth-placed Fiorentina.

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