Gérard Lopez, Lille President has agreed that Nigeria international, Victor Osimhen, can leave at the end of the season following speculations that he is a primary target for La Liga outfit Barcelona.
Speaking before the club’s Friday night’s Ligue 1 match against Montpellier at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lopez said that selling Osimhen is not in their plan but admitted that the future of the forward who has been valued for around €70m is uncertain.
“The idea is to keep Osimhen one more season.
“A departure this winter is not on the agenda,” said the president of Lille.
On the report that the 20-year-old is valued for €70m, Lopez said, “there is already interest for sums of about this level.
“He is a player who is in his ascending curve and he is a young player, who has just arrived. He did a good season in Belgium but he struggled a bit for medical reasons, he hadn’t been too lucky.”
“It is not only that the door is closed for this winter, I would also like to keep it closed for this summer. The idea concerning it is to keep it one more season.”
Osimhen has scored 9 goals in 16 Ligue 1 games.
Should the interest from Barcelona for the forward go through, he could beat the transfer record for a Nigeria player which is the £34m paid by Everton for Alex Iwobi.
Credit: punchng.com
