Victor Osimhen: Biography, Net Worth & Salary 2026

When Galatasaray arrived at Anfield on 18 March 2026 for their Champions League Round of 16 second leg, they were holding a 1-0 lead from the first leg. Early in the match, ten minutes in, Victor Osimhen clashed with Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate. The collision left him in pain and he needed treatment on the pitch. As he received treatment, Dominik Szoboszlai accused him of time-wasting and urged him to get up. Osimhen, clearly in pain, did not take kindly to it. He continued playing through the first half. Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk confirmed at the final whistle: “Osimhen is also in pain. It happened at the beginning of the game; we tried to keep him on the pitch, but his pain increased, so we had to substitute him at halftime.” Liverpool won 4-0 on the night, going through 4-1 on aggregate. A hospital examination after the match confirmed a fracture of the right forearm.

Two days later, in a livestream with influencer Carter Efe, Osimhen spoke about both the injury and the reaction from the Liverpool players: “I’m not scared of anything. I’ve faced so much in life. Szoboszlai and I had an on-field conversation.” He confirmed that Szoboszlai came to meet him in person after the final whistle and apologised, saying he had not realised the severity of the injury, and that Konate messaged him directly. “Konate sent me a DM on Instagram after the game to check on me,” Osimhen said. “He didn’t mean to harm me. It’s football, these things happen.” On the surgery itself: “I need to go under the knife. It means I need to have surgery to fix it because my arm is broken. It will take a maximum of five to six weeks. Six weeks at most, and I will be back to football.”

He is 27 years old and the highest-paid player in Turkish football history. None of it started anywhere close to here.

Victor Osimhen: Quick Facts

Childhood in Olusosun, Lagos

Victor Osimhen was born on 29 December 1998 in Lagos, the youngest of seven children. His father Patrick was from Esan in Edo State and his mother Christiana was from Amai in Ukwuani Local Government Area, Delta State. The family lived in Olusosun, a shanty town in Lagos next to what he describes as the biggest landfill in Africa. In his February 2026 Players’ Tribune essay “A Prayer From the Gutter,” he writes: “People say they drop off 10,000 tons of garbage a day there. Chemical waste. Broken TVs. Anything you can imagine. That was my backyard.” When he needed football boots as a boy, he went into the dump with his friends. A good day’s search went like this: “Hey, I found a broken Nike. Left foot! Size 8!” then, an hour later, “Hey, I found a Puma!!!! Right foot!!!! Size 9!!!!!” He writes: “That was a lucky day. We had a pair of boots to share between us all.”

His mother died when he was two or three years old. The essay opens with: “Nobody should know my name. The fact that you’re reading this is proof of God’s grace. My mother died when I was 2 or 3. Too young to remember anything except her holding me.” His father had been a driver. After his mother died, his father lost the driving job and took work washing dishes in a police department kitchen. Seven people lived in one room. One night when Osimhen was about 12, the landlord cut off the electricity over unpaid rent. He writes: “I went outside and I sat down next to this gutter, literally a gutter, and I started crying. I looked up into the sky and I asked God, ‘What kind of life is this for a child???'” Most nights, he slept in the church nearby because the roof of the family home had begun to cave in. The landlord had sent workers to fix it, they removed half the roof, and never came back.

To bring money in, the family worked the streets. His sisters sold oranges between cars at traffic stops. His older brother Andrew got up at 3 o’clock in the morning to sell the sports newspaper on the street, and sometimes brought home a paper with Drogba or Zlatan on the cover. Victor sold sachet water. In his own words: “I was really fast, so I was good at selling bottled water. I’d put a box of 12 on my head and wait for someone to beep for me. Then I’d sprint over to the car before the light turned green again.” Everything he earned went to his siblings for food and rent. New Bet9ja users who want to back Galatasaray in the Süper Lig can take advantage of the how to claim your Bet9ja bonus page before the next round of fixtures.

During COVID, Osimhen was in France with Lille when his father’s condition deteriorated. The airports were shut. He was trying to arrange a private flight home, but his agent kept delaying because a transfer was being negotiated. He writes: “I was calling every hour, begging them.” One morning he got out of the shower, saw a picture of his mother next to his bed, and got a feeling. He went downstairs to 20 missed calls from his family. His brother FaceTimed him and turned the camera to show him his father. “He’s gone.” He threw the phone. A neighbour stayed with him for five or six hours. He flew home for the funeral, and after returning to France he seriously considered never playing football again.

What Osimhen was chasing from Olusosun was the same thing thousands of Lagos boys were chasing at the same time. Academic research on Nigerian football migration documents a prayer that circulated among young footballers in Lagos communities like his: “Oh Lord, you are the Lord who remembered John Obi Mikel, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, remember us as you remembered them. Connect us to people who matter. Let them come and see us play so that they can take us to Europe.” Osimhen was one boy among tens of thousands in that same Lagos landscape, selling things in traffic by day, training on landfill pitches by night, waiting to be noticed. The difference between him and the others was two goals in 15 minutes in Abuja, and a team doctor who held up two fingers.

The Road to the 2015 U-17 World Cup

Osimhen’s path to the Nigeria U-17 squad was not a single clean trial. He first attended trials in Lagos when the national team was in the city, grinding through months of sessions that whittled a crowd of hundreds down to 30, then 27. He was one of three cut at the final step. He begged the coach for a reason. “It’s just technical. I’m sorry.” He rode home on a stranger’s lap on a danfo bus, sobbing, and the stranger asked what was wrong. He said: “I’m a footballer. Or I was trying to be.” He kept training alone for months. When he heard the team was coming to Abuja, he had no car and no money. An agent borrowed a car and said he had a brother in Abuja they could stay with. The morning they were supposed to leave, Osimhen got so nervous about leaving Lagos for the first time that he called the agent and said “Forget it. I’m not going nowhere. I’m cool here.” His father told him: “You need to go.” He left with a backpack, two pairs of clothes, and a green kit. Lucky green.

In Abuja, there were roughly 900 kids waiting outside the stadium. He did not get on the pitch the first day. On the second day, a coach pointed at him. “Green shirt. Let’s go. You have 15 minutes.” He ran until he was sweating blood and scored twice. His name was not called when the coaches read out the successful players. He was walking back to the car when he heard people shouting: “Hey! The guy in green!” The team doctor had told the coach about the two goals. He ran back into the stadium: “I’m the guy!!! I’M THE GUY!!!!” He made the squad.

At the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile, he scored 10 goals in seven matches, won the Golden Boot and the Silver Ball, and Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets won the tournament. After the prize money came through, he called his sisters: “I am moving you all from a one-room house to a two-room house. Everything is taken care of. All I ask from you is to include me in your prayers.” VfL Wolfsburg signed him to a pre-contract in January 2016 and a full deal in January 2017.

Wolfsburg, Charleroi, Lille

Wolfsburg did not work out. A loan to Belgian side Sporting Charleroi for 2018-19 gave him his first consistent run as a starter in European football. LOSC Lille signed him outright in 2019, and he scored 13 goals and provided 4 assists in 27 Ligue 1 appearances that season, winning the 2020 RFI-France 24 Marc-Vivien Foé Prize for the best African player in Ligue 1. Napoli paid a reported fee of €80 million to bring him to Italy in September 2020, a club record at the time. It was the largest fee ever paid for a Nigerian player at that point. Nigerian fans following his Galatasaray comeback from injury can get started with the YOHAIG promo code for an enhanced welcome bonus.

Napoli: A Fractured Cheekbone, a Face Mask, and 33 Years of History

His first two seasons in Naples were interrupted repeatedly by injury. On 21 November 2021, he suffered multiple facial fractures, including damage to his cheekbone and orbital area, in a collision during a Champions League group stage match against Inter Milan. He underwent surgery, including orbital reconstruction, and returned wearing a carbon-fibre protective mask. He kept using the mask as a goal celebration long after doctors cleared him to play without it, and it became part of his identity on the pitch. He describes his relationship with manager Luciano Spalletti in the Players’ Tribune essay: Spalletti was “like a father to me. When I wasn’t doing something right, he came for my neck. But he believed in me deep in his soul.” When the squad was coasting and started joking around in training, Spalletti had the goal posts removed and made them run for two days with no ball. Nobody told a joke at training again.

In the 2022-23 Serie A season, Osimhen scored 26 goals in 32 matches, breaking Samuel Eto’o’s record for the most by an African player in a single Italian top-flight campaign. Eto’o’s previous record was 21 goals in the 2010-11 season. On 4 May 2023, his equaliser in a 1-1 draw against Udinese confirmed Napoli as Italian champions for the first time in 33 years, drawing him level with George Weah as the highest-scoring African in Serie A history. Three days later, a penalty against Fiorentina took him past Weah’s career total outright, making him the all-time leading African scorer in Serie A history. After the Udinese final whistle, a Napoli fan pulled out his phone to show Osimhen a video from the Maradona years in the 1980s. The man had tears in his eyes and did not speak English. Someone translated: “For 1,000 years they will remember you. When we are all dust, they will remember you.” Osimhen finished the 2022-23 season with 31 goals across all competitions, won the capocannoniere as Italy’s top scorer, and took the 2023 CAF African Player of the Year award. He was also the first player in CAF Awards history to win both the Young Player of the Year and the Player of the Year in separate years.

The exit from Napoli was acrimonious. A Napoli social media post mocking a missed penalty triggered the breakdown. In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, he described how the club treated him: “They tried to send me off somewhere to play, but they treated me like a dog. Go here, go there, do this, do that. I’ve worked so hard to build my career, and I couldn’t accept that sort of treatment. I’m not a puppet.” As part of the loan arrangement with Galatasaray, Osimhen extended his Napoli contract to 2027 and agreed to a reduction of his release clause from €130 million to €80 million, a legal mechanism designed to facilitate a permanent sale the following summer while protecting Napoli’s ability to recover a significant fee. Galatasaray agreed a season-long loan in September 2024.

Galatasaray: Turkish Records, a Night That Went Beyond Football, and the Champions League

On loan in 2024-25, Osimhen scored 37 goals and provided 8 assists in 41 appearances across all competitions, the most goals ever by a foreign player in a single Turkish Süper Lig campaign. He scored a brace in the Turkish Cup final on 14 May 2025, his goals in the 46th and 63rd minutes completing a 3-0 win over Trabzonspor at Gaziantep Stadium, earning him the Player of the Match award. Galatasaray won the Süper Lig title with two rounds to spare, finishing the season with 95 points and losing only once in the league all season. Galatasaray signed him permanently on a reported fee of approximately €75 million. At his presentation, he said: “This wasn’t a choice I saw coming so soon, but in many ways, I already felt connected to Galatasaray.” His contract runs to June 2029. In 69 competitive appearances for the club, he has scored 56 goals and provided 15 assists.

In the 2025-26 Champions League, Galatasaray entered the league phase and qualified for the knockout rounds. On 5 November 2025, Matchday 4, Osimhen scored twice in a 3-0 away win over Ajax in Amsterdam, his goals coming in the 59th and 66th minutes, the second from the penalty spot. Galatasaray also drew 1-1 with Atletico Madrid at Rams Park on 21 January 2026 in the league phase, with Osimhen playing 90 minutes. They came through the knockout playoff round against Juventus. The first leg at Rams Park on 17 February finished 5-2 to Galatasaray. In the second leg in Turin on 25 February, which went to extra time, Osimhen scored in the 105th minute to help Galatasaray through. The final score on the night was 3-2 to Juventus, giving Galatasaray a 7-5 aggregate win. They drew Liverpool in the Round of 16. Before the first leg on 10 March at Rams Park, Galatasaray’s ultras unveiled a tifo in the stands: a banner featuring Osimhen, his children, and a portrait of his late mother. Beneath it, the words: “We are a family and family is everything.” When he saw the images during the Champions League anthem, he could not hold back his tears. He repaid the fans seven minutes into the match, when his headed lay-off set up the only goal of the game, a 1-0 win. After the final whistle, he came back onto the pitch with his daughter and danced with the fans. In the second leg at Anfield on 18 March, Liverpool won 4-0 and went through 4-1 on aggregate. Osimhen left with a broken arm. Super Eagles supporters following Galatasaray’s Süper Lig campaign can use Bet9ja’s sign-up bonus before the next round of fixtures.

International Career

Osimhen has scored 35 goals in 45 appearances for the Super Eagles, the second-highest total in the national team’s history behind Rashidi Yekini. He won the Golden Boot during the 2023 AFCON qualifying campaign with 10 goals. At the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, he scored Nigeria’s equaliser in the group stage against Equatorial Guinea and was central to their run through the knockout rounds: a 1-0 win over Cameroon in the Round of 16, a 1-0 win over Angola in the quarter-finals, and a penalty shootout victory over South Africa in the semi-finals. Nigeria lost the final 2-1 to hosts Ivory Coast on 11 February 2024, Sebastien Haller scoring the winner in the 81st minute. Nigeria did not qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In the African playoff final in November 2025, the Super Eagles drew 1-1 with DR Congo in Rabat and lost 4-3 on penalties. The Nigeria Football Federation filed a formal complaint with FIFA alleging DR Congo had fielded ineligible players. FIFA rejected the petition in March 2026 and confirmed DR Congo’s place in the intercontinental playoff.

Personal Life

Osimhen is not married. He has a daughter, Hailey, who was born in October 2022. He has spoken about her relationship with Galatasaray supporters: “She is even more attached to the club than I am.” He has six siblings: Andrew, Samson, Gloria, Esther, Joy, and Blessing. Andrew, the eldest, was the first football influence in his life, selling newspapers on the roadside from 3am to help support the family and encouraging Victor toward the game. In the Players’ Tribune essay he writes that he prays for everyone in his life. “Except for landlords. I always seem to forget them in my prayers.” He is a committed Christian.

Victor Osimhen Net Worth and Salary in 2026

Osimhen earns approximately €15 million net per year at Galatasaray, with bonuses bringing his total annual package to as much as €21 million, making him the highest-paid player in Turkish football history. At current exchange rates that converts to roughly N30 billion or more per year depending on the naira rate. His commercial portfolio includes partnerships with Reckitt Nigeria (Dettol), GOtv (MultiChoice Nigeria), and Adidas. He has filed for the VO9 trademark. Net worth estimates vary widely across sources and no single figure is independently verified. He owns property in Lekki and Mowe in Nigeria. He gifted a three-bedroom home to a disabled vendor from his Olusosun neighbourhood.

Awards and Records

The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Boot. The 2022-23 Serie A capocannoniere. The 2023 CAF African Player of the Year, awarded at a ceremony in Marrakech on 11 December 2023, making him the first Nigerian to win the honour since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999. A 2024-25 Turkish Cup winner’s medal and Süper Lig title. Osimhen holds the record for the most goals by an African player in a single Serie A season (26), the most goals by a foreign player in a single Turkish Süper Lig season (37), and the all-time record for most goals by any African player in Serie A history. He placed eighth at the 2023 Ballon d’Or, the first Nigerian to finish in the top ten of that award. With 35 goals in 45 Super Eagles appearances, he is two away from Rashidi Yekini’s all-time Nigeria record. He closes the Players’ Tribune essay with: “You can start out in the gutter, and still……………. and still….. Your name can be on their lips for 1,000 years.”