Victor Osimhen is back in Nigeria recovering from the broken arm he sustained at Anfield last week, and while he is away from football for now, he has been keeping himself busy, going on a Twitch livestream with comedian Carter Efe, Footynaija.com.
One story in particular caught everyone’s attention. Osimhen took listeners back to 2017, his first call-up to the Super Eagles camp in Uyo. He was 17 years old, had barely broken into professional football and was surrounded by established names who had been playing at the top level for years.
He wanted to connect with Kelechi Iheanacho, then a rising star at Manchester City, and offered to carry his boots as a way of getting close to him.
Iheanacho told him to come to his hotel room. When Osimhen knocked on the door, a senior player, a big name at the time whose identity Osimhen chose not to reveal, opened it and sent him away without hesitation.
Iheanacho’s gesture
What happened next stayed with Osimhen for years. Iheanacho arrived shortly after, saw what had happened, confronted his roommate and immediately brought the teenager inside.
“Iheanacho showed up and was angry at him, saying, ‘You see that someone came to see me in my room and you are chasing him from my room.’ So Iheanacho took my hand and took me inside,” Osimhen said, per League Reporters.
🚨 Top Super Eagles 🇳🇬🦅 investigative journalist @FisayoDairo has unveiled the play that bounced Osimhen from seeing Iheanacho in the Super Eagles camp.
It is a small story in the grand scheme of things, but it says a lot about both men. Osimhen has since gone on to become Nigeria’s greatest striker, while Iheanacho’s career has taken a quieter path, currently at Celtic after stints at Sevilla and other clubs.
The moment between them in a hotel corridor in Uyo, nine years ago, is the kind of thing that shapes a young player’s experience of the game more than most people realise.
