Belgian Scout Reveals Several French Clubs Failed To Take A Gamble On Osimhen Before Lille Move

Published: April 12, 2020

Belgian scout Stéphane Pauwels, who has worked for French clubs FC Metz, Monaco and Valenciennes FC, has revealed that he recommended Victor Osimhen to several French clubs before Lille swooped for his services in the summer of 2019.

The unnamed French Ligue 1 clubs were not willing to take a gamble on Osimhen who was then playing for
Sporting Charleroi in Belgium.

Lille believed in Osimhen's qualities and are set to benefit from his future sale, having slapped an asking price of more than 80 million euros on the Nigeria international before the coronavirus crisis.

Writing in his column for la Voix du Nord via africatopsports.com, Pauwels said : "Listen, I was very critical at the start with Gérard Lopez and I must admit that for the past two years, they have been doing remarkable work. I think they’ll be fine.

"They have Luis Campos, a guy who works remarkably. I can tell you that I had talked about Victor Osimhen to a lot of clubs in France and not a single one has moved. Campos had been watching for months and this is the result today".

Osimhen has scored 22 goals for club and country since the start of the 2019-2020 season.

Igho Kingsley