The rise and rise of Osimhen: Madrid considers him, gets FIFA Best nomination
Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen is now finding life among the best footballers in the world easy.
Fresh from his nomination for Ballon d’ Or, Osimhen was on Thursday nominated for FIFA Best Award and to cap a special week, the biggest and the most prestigious football club in the world, Real Madrid is now prioritizing signing peradventure their number one option, Kylian Mbappe, renew his contract with PSG.
Madrid president Florentino Perez wishes to bring an elite striker to Real Madrid in 2024, and, if Kylian Mbappé doesn’t join, Osimhen is next on the list. His nose for the goal is considered functional to their technical project, Fichajes reports.
Los Galacticos lost Karim Benzema last summer but decided not to purchase another top center-forward. They signed just veteran Joselu and splurged on Jude Bellingham. They waited for the French star, but their chase came up empty-handed.
The PSG star eventually reconciled with his team. He’s under contract till 2024, plus he has an option to prolong it. If he’s talked into staying once again, Real Madrid would turn their attention toward Osimhen.
The Napoli ace seemed to be on the verge of renewing his contract in the summer, but then the talks slowed down. His future release clause is one of the main sticking points. He’s currently tied to the Scudetto holders until 2025.
Carlo Ancelotti stated they didn’t consider Osimhen in the past window to Radio Serie A.
“We never thought about him. We believed that signing Bellingham would make up for the departure of Benzema. He’s a serious professional and excellent. What he’s able to do at 20 years old is surprising.”
Meanwhile, FIFA has announced the shortlist for the 2023 The Best Awards with names having been chosen by a panel of football experts with the qualifying period for the women’s awards – The Best FIFA Women’s Player, The Best FIFA Women’s Coach, and The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper – being from 1 August 2022 to 20 August 2023, the date of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final.
For the men’s awards: The Best FIFA Men’s Player, The Best FIFA Men’s Coach, and The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper - the qualifying period was between 19 December 2022 to 20 August 2023 (post-2022
World Cup).
Fans can now vote for their favourite players in the various categories with the fan vote (via FIFA.com) carrying a percentage of the overall vote in conjunction with an international jury comprised of national team captains and coaches and select global journalists.
Osimhen is one of the many of candidates for The Best FIFA Men’s Player, others are part of Manchester City’s 2022-23 treble-winning squad, while coach Pep Guardiola, is nominated for The Best FIFA Men’s Coach alongside four of his peers.
The Best FIFA Men’s Player include the current holder and Inter Miami striker Leo Messi.
The Best FIFA Men’s Player Nominees
Julián Álvarez (Argentina); Marcelo Brozović (Croatia); Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium); İlkay Gündoğan (Germany); Erling Haaland (Norway); Rodrigo (Rodri) Hernández Cascante (Spain); Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia); Kylian Mbappé (France); Lionel Messi (Argentina); Victor Osimhen (Nigeria); Declan Rice (England); Bernardo Silva (Portugal).
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach Nominees
Pep Guardiola (Spain); Simone Inzaghi (Italy); Ange Postecoglou (Australia); Luciano Spalletti (Italy); Xavi (Spain).
