They forced me — Osimhen testifies in court over alleged inconsistencies in his transfer to Napoli from Lille

Victor Osimhen has testified in court, narrating the extent of his involvement in his transfer from Lille to Napoli. The Partenopei are being prosecuted over alleged shady dealings involving that specific transfer; hence, the Nigerian was invited to court to tell his side of the story. 

Osimhen joined Napoli from Lille in the summer of 2020. The deal was officially announced at about €70-71.2 million with potential add-ons that could push the total higher. 

Part of that total involved player exchanges: Napoli included four players in the deal going from Napoli to Lille (Orestis Karnezis, plus three young/"academy" players: Claudio Manzi, Luigi Liguori, and Ciro Palmieri) with an aggregate valuation of about €20-21 million. 

The legal scrutiny centres around allegations that Napoli inflated the value of those players involved in the deal  in order to artificially boost the numbers in financial statements. 

The transfer was flagged by Italian prosecutors (Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office, with initial involvement from Naples prosecutors and the Guardia di Finanza) on charges of false accounting (in Italian, “falso in bilancio” or fictitious capital gains). 

As of early 2025, prosecutors have formally requested a trial for Napoli, its president Aurelio De Laurentiis, and Andrea Chiavelli (a club executive) over these alleged irregularities. 

According to Sabah, Osimhen has been invited to testify in court, in which he explained that he was unaware of the intricacies of the deal. He said that he was dealing with the passing of his father at the time, and the deal was imposed on him. 

“My previous agent, Jean Gerard, told me that Napoli was seriously interested,” he said. “But he was only interested in my transfer, not my father's health. At that time, my focus wasn't on football; I just wanted to know his situation.

"Gerard called me to meet him in Nice. Lille 's president, Gerard Lopez, was also there. They told me I needed to transfer to Napoli, that a general agreement had been made, and that it was a good opportunity for Lille due to the pandemic. But I knew nothing.

"After my father's death, I was very angry with Lille and my manager, because I couldn't see my father before he died. In fact, they told me I had to go to Naples the day after my father's death. I went to Naples out of respect for the Lille president, but I wasn't going to sign anything.

"I met with the manager first, and he explained the project to me. The next day, I met with De Laurentiis in Capri. He told me about the city and the club, but I didn't understand what he and Giuntoli (Cristiano Giuntoli - Napoli's sporting director at the time) were talking about because they were speaking Italian. They asked me if I had seen the contract, but I didn't understand anything.

"When I got back to the hotel, I asked my agent for a draft contract. He told me there was no contract. I was surprised because the president said otherwise. Finally, he showed me a document from a supposed agreement with Napoli."