By Godwin Kienka

Victor Osimhen’s engagement with Napoli as a 21-year-old vivacious soccer talent had all the trappings of a fairy tale romance that would lead to a dream wedding with the couple living happily ever after. For the first two seasons, it surely was.

Osimhen went over to Napoli in 2020 for a transfer fee of 80 million Euros and immediately made a remarkable impact. In the 2021-22 season he got the Serie A ‘best young player award.” The following season, he became the league’s top scorer with 26 goals – a feat which was instrumental to Napoli winning the Serie A league title for the first time in 33 years.  The proud Nigerian got the best striker award and then the Serie A best player award for the season. The Napoli fans adored him chanted his name passionately in matches, the city of Naples, if I remember correctly, gave him a key to the city and he became a cult hero. 

That was when VO needed some adults with cool heads and steady hands in his corner –unfortunately, he did not. His agents, managers or whatever name they go by, have in the opinion of many, come across as marketers (amateurish ones at that), loud and pompous.    

“With my little experience working internationally with the ITF and the ATP and in international media halls from Australia to the USA and from South Africa to Europe and Israel as Publisher and Editor of the Tennis Africa Magazine and then as a coach who had taken a player to a Grand Slam, I can say with some authority that the Sports World abhors sports men and women who come across as pompous, unappreciative, disrespectful of team mates and their coaches. A soccer star can be humble, reticent and hard working like VO but, if the agent is amateurish, all over the place, undiplomatic and disrespectful, it rubs off on the player because the agent and the player are one.

“Disrespect does not necessarily mean you are rude or insulting. Not taking the “feelings” of a club that “made you” into consideration and talking about possible deals behind your coach and team could be viewed as unappreciative, disrespectful and insulting.” And they (the club and coach) can “unmake you.” 

Once a player signs a contract, he becomes the property of the club and yes, there could be a buy-out clause before the end of the contract but, the team decides the ceiling and if they do not want the player to leave, they could shoot the price sky high. What do intelligent agents and player managers do?  Mohamed Salah, Alexander Arnold and Harry Kane are good examples: they wait for the contract to expire, and the player can leave for free. Or hope the club will initiate a cash plus player swap deal if the player respectfully and using informal channels indicate his interest to leave to a bigger club that surely and desperately wants him. Patience, as in Mo Salah’s example is the name of the game.

An agent or player manager who is club-name dropping and comparing his player to the best in the world and rating his player’s worth is doing a great disservice to his player. Is the Club that, to a great extent, determines their players worth and if the Manager (Coach) is upset with the player’s attitude and that of  his agents , he can banish the player to “Siberia” as in Osimhen’s case – to the youth team and then “inform his agent that we have sent him to the Youth Team.” The nuance should not be lost on anyone. That is saying something to Osimhen’s agent. This point is supported by the statement from the Juventus coach who said: “We have nothing to do with Osimhen. …. We read a lot of things that make US laugh. You keep talking, we keep working.”

The world soccer managers’ network is a strong fraternity, and the use of the word ‘US” is very telling. 

How can Osimhen’s managers ever think of going to another Serie A club with the possibility of playing away to Napoli? He will be booed from the first blast of the whistle to the last.

What is the possible solution? In my very humble opinion, Osimhen should “TWEAK” his management team because they will not get a good reception in the board room of any team anywhere in the world. 

Secondly, Osimhen should go to Conte truly contrite and “dobale” Nigerian style. Apologize to his teammates, to the fans and the City of Naples and then promise Conte that he will not only kneel facing the four sides of the football field in a home game and apologize to the fans if he is fielded but will put in 200% in training and in matches. There is a lot of strength in humility and in eating humble pies.  Eating humble pie now is too small a price to pay for the giant pie that awaits him at the end of his contract if he is reintegrated into the team and he hits the same lofty heights.

*Godwin Kienka was Chairman of the Sports Reform Committee and the Author of the best seller “Sports in Nigeria – Going Round in Circles.”