Scout Report: Victor Osimhen

One striker who is finding his feet early this season is Napoli’s Victor Osimhen.

Although, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard of the Nigerian striker. Osimhen put himself on the world stage, and in the eyes of clubs everywhere, when he won the Golden Boot and Silver Ball awards at the 2015 Under-17 World Cup.

Player Profile

Name: Victor Osimhen
Age: 21 (Born 1998)
Position: Striker
Club: Napoli
Rookie Season: 2017

About Victor Osimhen

Like I said at the top, Osimhen shot into the picture with his performances at the U-17 World Cup in Chile.

From there, he’s been impressing more and more throughout Germany, France, and now Italy.

Looking at Osimhen’s stat-wheel (from Wyscout) for this season, we can see he looks like a classical number nine.

He is getting a lot of shots off every ninety minutes (S/90), at 4.26, and a lot of touches in the box (TIB/90), at 5.63. Along with that, his general passing statistics are down.

Also, his goals per 90 minutes (G/90) is low too.

However, it’s still pretty early in the season, and it’s his first in Italy. So I’d expect some of these numbers to change, especially the goals. Having only scored two goals in 300-odd minutes this season in Serie A, one shot goes in and his numbers look a lot better. Typical small sample size to me.

Over his career, in all competitions, he’s scored at an awesome 0.6 goals per game, at an xG of 0.59.

Which, let’s be honest… is pretty awesome.

In fact, last season he was the youngest player in the top five European leagues to average the following:

• 0.45 goals a game

• 14 xG for the season

• 4 Touches in the box per 90

As you can see, that’s some pretty good company he is keeping there too. Abraham, Martinez, Jesus, and Werner are all no joke.

Osimhen is the modern number nine to a tee. He’s tall, lanky, and is comfortable holding the ball up, or running into open channels.

Actually, sometimes he’s a little too keen to run into open channels, his 33 offsides last season was a bit too high.

It’s funny that the second name on that list is Tammy Abraham. Watching, Osimhen play, I did think they shared a few similarities… and then I compared their underlying stats….

So you could say that they play a little alike….

When it comes to getting his shots off - around five per game! - his shot profile actually isn’t too bad.

However, it could be improved. I’d like to see some of those shots in the yellow potentially being more central when the opportunity arises, and the ones in the red limited - however, he doesn’t shoot too many needless ones from outside the box.

He does have that ability though. Just check this out. This play is a great example of dragging an outside shit in and improving xG, along with an example of his ability to hit those channels and make a good run.

It’s also a great example of him absolutely taking the piss… God he was good last season.

Like I mentioned before, the goals aren’t really coming for Osimhen this season as he adjusts to life in Italy - and in a Napoli side that’s had their share of COVID drama.

However, that doesn’t mean that he’s playing poorly.

Far from it.

Some basic stats that I like to look at for strikers are how often they get touches in the box, how many shots they get off, and how often they’re hitting the target.

I’ll usually throw some xG in there too - either as a per-game form, or a total for the season.

So, looking at Osimhen’s season so far, I set the following benchmarks for strikers in the top European leagues.

• 4 Touches in the box per 90 minutes

• 4 Shots per 90

• 40% of shots on target

I also filtered all the players that don’t have an xG of at least 3 for the season… As a way to try and remove players that have had one good game, or a few good appearances off the bench.

When I do that, you can see that Osimhen is one of only six strikers in the top five European leagues playing with those statistics.

Again, he’s in some awesome company here; Lewandowski, Messi, and Zlatan are three players you want to be on the same list as…. no matter what the list is.

These numbers put him along some of the best strikers on the planet. And while I don’t think Osimhen is in the top seven strikers in Europe, he does have a lot of potential.

Like I said, he is stil adjusting in Italy… He was a human cheat-code in France at times - and while Serie A is a better league, it’s a different style of play.

Regardless, he’s getting a lot of the ball in the box, getting shots off, and hitting the target a lot too.

When it comes to being a target man, Osimhen is capable of holding the ball up, getting involved with link-up play, or even creating opportunities for himself, often using his chest to control the ball and set up a play like this.

Granted, they don’t all end up with a banger from outside of the box.

Still, he sees the defender miss-time his attempt at the ball, and takes full advantage of the opening left in the middle, finding more than enough room to get a shot off.

There are plenty of opportunities like this for Osimhen, where he can be that target man or run through on goal.

The only thing he doesn’t do, is add much in the way of build-up play. That may not have been too much of a hinderance so far, but it may impact his career going forward. The way football is going, strikers do need to offer something in the build-up.

Even without that though, he should have a great career.

What’s Next For Victor Osimhen?

The main thing Osimhen needs to do is have a good season at Napoli! He’s at a good age, and there’s a lot of opportunity for him to try and establish himself as a top striker in Italy over the next few seasons.

At the time of writing, Napoli are third in the table, and will look to make the Champions League next season, if everything goes as planned.

In regards to personal improvement, he does need to work more on his passing. While he is capable of the the odd great pass, his completion rate over his career is only 77%, which needs to be built on. It’s been an issue for him throughout his career, and if he can drop back and be in the build-up more, he’ll be an option for more teams.

Hell, with Harry Kane this season, we’re seeing how dangerous a number nine can be if he’s capable of dropping and playing as a ten for phases of buildup.

Victor Osimhen Cards

Regarding rookie cards and stickers, options are pretty limited for Victor Osimhen. He has a FIFA365 stickers from the 2016/17 set. There are also a few sticker options from his time in France.

This season at Napoli, Id expect to see him in a few Chronicles cards. I don’t know for sure if they’ll slap an RC on his cards - but I’m guessing they will.