“I was rejected because I had malaria and typhoid” — Osimhen reveals how 12 minutes changed his life

Victor Osimhen is widely acknowledged as one of the most lethal finishers in global football. Yet his ascent to the top was nearly derailed by a series of medical setbacks and professional dismissals.

In a revealing segment of the documentary “Victor Osimhen: The Untold Story,” the Galatasaray striker opened up about the psychological and physical toll of his early years in Europe.

Osimhen's journey serves as a sobering reminder of how close the world came to never seeing his talent on the grandest stages.

Before finding his feet in Belgium, Osimhen endured a nightmare stint in Germany with Wolfsburg.

Plagued by persistent injuries and struggling to adapt to the intensity of the Bundesliga, he found an unexpected mentor in a legendary German goal-machine. This period of quiet observation proved to be his university of striking.

“My first 4,5,6…or 8 months there I was injured. I had meniscus injury, shoulder injury and some others like that. For me, I wanted to leave on loan at first. Then Mario Gomez came; a big legend. one of the deadliest strikers in world football," Osimhen said.

"When he came, I went to the administrator of the club and told them I would like to stay, because I want to learn. I knew I still had time, so I wanted to learn.

"And then when we started training I will be looking at this guy [Gomez], and see the way he scored some kind of crazy goals, his touches, the way he scanned the pitch, the offside trap and everything like that. I was like wow. This is crazy; that I’m training with Mario Gomez. It’s unbelievable.”

However, the transition from learning to playing was fraught with heartbreak. When Osimhen attempted to move to the Belgian Pro League to secure game time, his health became a barrier. He faced a double rejection that would have broken a lesser athlete, as clubs feared his physical condition after a bout of tropical illnesses.

“It was destined," Osimhen said. "At first, I went to a club in Belgium. I was rejected because I had malaria and typhoid. I moved back to Germany; I started training.

"Another club in Belgium called me. I did the medical and everything. The doctor said, 'Yeah, for me, everything is perfect.' So the president of the club said because the first club that called me didn’t sign me, they also cannot sign me. I shook his hand, I said, 'Thank you very much,' and I left. I moved on.”

Just as the transfer window was closing and his options seemed exhausted, a late-night call from Sporting Charleroi president Mehdi Bayat provided a final lifeline.

The emotional weight of his previous failures was so heavy that Osimhen kept the negotiations a secret, even from those closest to him, fearing another collapse.

“Three days to the end of the transfer window; the season in Belgium already started, and I received a call from Mehdi Bayat, someone that I love so much. He and his family have been so amazing to me. I received a call from him. I didn’t save the number, so I didn’t know who was calling. But I saw Belgium, so I picked up the call, and he was like, 'This is Mehdi Bayat, the president of Sporting Charleroi, and he was like, ‘we want you.'"

"You know the trauma of getting rejected twice stuck in my head. When this opportunity came about Charleroi, I didn’t tell anybody. Two days to the end of the transfer window, and the president of Charleroi came to see me at the hotel, in the middle of the night when I arrived.”

Upon arriving at Charleroi, the Nigerian striker had to fight his way past established players.

His breakthrough didn't come through a starting role or a high-profile transfer but through a brief 12-minute cameo in a match against his compatriot and fellow Super Eagles star, Taiwo Awoniyi.

“So the next day, I went to the coach. The coach told me, ‘yeah, you know we have two more strikers before you; you have to work so hard.’ I said, ‘I’m ready to work hard,"" Osimhen revealed.

"The first day of training with the team, I was training alone, and then the fitness guy saw that I was good. Then he went to the coach to suggest that I should be training with the main team. So, the coach called me, and I joined the main team immediately. I was training with the main team, and that was how I kept on preparing.

"Then, the first game was against Taiwo Awoniyi’s team, Royal Mouscron. We were playing at home. We were leading that game, I think. So against Mouscron was the first 12 minutes the coach gave me. That was the turning point in my career.”

Although Osimhen didn't score for Charleroi in the 3-1 win against Mouscron on September 1, 2018, those twelve minutes served as the launchpad for a career that would later see him conquer the Italian Serie A and lead the Super Eagles of Nigeria's attack.

The story highlights the thin margins in professional sports, where a single phone call or a short substitute appearance can transform a "rejected" player into a continental icon.