The President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has showered praises on Super Eagles goal poacher, Victor Osimhen, for his great exploits in the colours of Napoli in the Italian Serie A this season.
Osimhen scored Napoli’s only goal in their 1-1 draw against Udinese on Thursday, May 4, 2023, to secure the needed point for the Neapolitans to clinch the 2022/2023 Serie A title.
The feat ended the Italian club’s 33-year wait for a league title which they last celebrated when Argentinean great, Diego Maradona, led the line for them.
The Super Eagles striker played a crucial role in Napoli’s successful Scudetto bid this term scoring 22 goals and providing four assists after 33 rounds of games and also earned himself a comparison with Maradona in the process.
In appreciation of Osimhen’s achievements in Italy, Tinubu took to his Twitter page on Sunday, May 7, 2023, where he shared a picture of the striker in a Napoli shirt with a caption to boot.
The president-elect said he’s proud of the 24-year-old who he described as “idán gangan,” – a street slang that can be loosely translated as “the real deal”.
Tinubu said, “I think we can all agree that there was another coronation in Italy where our son, Victor Osimhen, claimed the crown as the new King of Serie A!
“The real deal, or idán gangan as younger folks may describe him; Victor has continued the fine tradition of Nigeria’s footballing excellence on the global stage. We are all proud of him and wish him well in what is already a remarkable career.”
Pulse reports that aside from locking down the Italian league for Napoli, Osimhen also equalled and broke some records along the way.
His 22 league-goal haul is the highest return by an African player in the Italian top-flight in a single season, surpassing the achievement of Cameroonian legend, Samuel Eto’o, who found the back of the net 21 times for Inter Milan in the 2010/2011 campaign
Osimhen also equalled the longstanding record of 46 league goals by an African player in Serie A, held by Liberian legend, George Weah.