Who is that masked man?

The spearhead of Napoli’s remarkable march to Serie A glory, masked forward Victor Osimhen has been hailed as a superhero, but childhood tragedy and a thirst for hard work lie at the root of his astonishing rise

WORDS Chris Burke | INTERVIEW Patrick Kendrick | PORTRAITS Tullio Puglia

Interview
It’s an expression Victor Osimhen has likely heard at least once: “Non c’è due senza tre.” Never two without three. Perhaps a Napoli team-mate saluted him with the phrase after his first hat-trick for the club last October. Or perhaps those words have become a kind of background noise, audible wherever he goes in Naples from one day to the next, a mantra always being uttered somewhere and carried on the warm breeze inland from the Mediterranean. In a city with a strong claim to being Italy’s epicentre of superstition, it’s a slice of folk wisdom that holds particular weight.

Three is very much the magic number in Naples. As it has been for centuries, a figure seared into the city’s active imagination by revered local patron saint San Gennaro. Three times every year, his dried blood is said to turn to liquid in the vials that store it, an occasion marked by a street procession of thousands and an elaborate ritual as the archbishop displays the purported miracle to the devout and curious alike. As Neapolitan legend has it, should the blood fail to liquify even one time out of three, disaster awaits. And with Mount Vesuvius brewing next door, that is no laughing matter.

Make your own pilgrimage to Naples these days and the number three will be everywhere you look: on wall murals, in shop windows, across commemorative T-shirts, on banners hung proudly from windows or slung over balconies. But for a very different reason. Football is a rival, albeit overlapping religion in the capital of Campania and, at the time of writing, the local faithful are finally closing in on a sacred trinity of their own: Napoli’s long-awaited third Serie A title.

Never two without three? It is 33 years since Diego Maradona drove the team to their second Scudetto in four seasons, an era of dizzying success that was gone as quickly as it came. For decades, the club trophy cabinet seemed to provide dusty evidence to the contrary, a painful exception to the rule of three. But the Azzurri are back on top of the Italian game at last – and zero miracles have been involved.

“This season has been fantastic for us and the fans,” says Osimhen, the razor-sharp tip of the Napoli spear. “We still have more games to go, but in the fans’ heads we’ve already won the league and they find any cause to celebrate early. It’s an amazing thing, an amazing feeling, and they deserve this too. I think the last time they had this kind of feeling was when they won the league 33 years ago. The passion and eagerness to get this trophy to Naples… it has been one of their lifelong dreams and now it’s finally happening. I’m really happy for them, and I’m also happy to be part of history.”

The Nigerian forward has certainly been that, with Napoli also reaching the last eight of the Champions League/European Cup for the first time this season; while exiting at the hands of AC Milan was disappointing, it was offset by domestic affairs. Osimhen’s scoring record of close to a goal a game in Serie A this term has placed him front and centre as the star turn in Luciano Spalletti’s deftly assembled team. In his third season at the club – that number again – he looks well placed to finish top scorer in the Italian top flight and become the first African player to take the Capocanonniere crown, a feat that eluded such gifted goal hounds as Samuel Eto’o and George Weah. 

Osimhen’s own idol, Didier Drogba, never played in Serie A. But the 24-year-old received high praise from the Chelsea great’s old coach José Mourinho in January when he struck in a 2-1 defeat of Roma, during a prolific run of registering in eight consecutive games. “He is on the same level as Drogba,” commented the Roma boss, attesting to Osimhen’s improved finishing since he was named best young player in the Italian elite last term. Already a handful for defenders with his leggy pace, rock-solid body strength and instinct to attack space, the Napoli No9 has graduated into the top echelon of modern forwards, his name now intoned with the likes of Erling Haaland.

For the more superstitious fans, Osimhen’s transformation from the player who struggled with injury and Covid-19 during his debut season can be put down to one thing: the mask that has become the defining feature of his public image. He has worn it for protection since nearly losing his eyesight in November 2021, when a challenge with Inter defender Milan Škriniar left him needing six plaques and 18 screws inserted into his face during a three-hour procedure. Even his surgeon, Dr Gianpaolo Tartaro, has suggested that “he seems to play better than he did before”.

“A lot of people say it’s a lucky mask, but I don’t really think so,” counters Osimhen. “I just put it on to protect my face from getting the type of injury I had earlier, but of course I also see it as a very good thing because ever since putting it on, I’ve been on the way to the top. I wouldn’t actually put the season I’m having down to the mask. I know the kind of player I am and I know what I can be with or without the mask, but of course it is also a great asset for me. It’s been my trademark and I don’t think I can take it off. I will continue to use it until I finish my career.”

Colourful support for Napoli in Naples (right)
Colourful support for Napoli in Naples (right)
“The mask is a great asset for me. It’s been my trademark and I don’t think I can take it off. I will continue to use it until I finish my career”
The notorious Osimhen masks

The mask has undoubtedly helped boost his profile, lending him a superhero swagger in a game always hungry for characters. With it he cuts a dash like a contemporary Zorro, or the blond-haired Batman of calcio, leading the charge for a club that – appropriately enough – is owned by film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis. Fans of all ages have started to wear imitation masks in his honour, from former Italy striker Luca Toni to a young Torino mascot at a Serie A game in March. Can even Osimhen admit to feeling the pull of its symbolic power?

“I think so, because now a lot of kids also put on a mask,” he says. “I remember when we played Torino and I didn’t know that mascot had the mask under his shirt. After we finished the handshake we were supposed to leave, but I saw him put on the mask. For me to be a role model to this kid… If someone told me a few years ago that this is how it was going to be, I can’t lie, I would have doubted it. To continue inspiring that kid – everyone I’ve inspired – means I have to keep going and keep on moving to the top.”

Evidently the superhero hype has not gone to Osimhen’s head. And as he recounts the story of his gruelling childhood, nor does he hide who he is beneath the mask. 

Raised near the Olusosun landfill in Lagos, Osimhen lost his mother at a young age. But he credits those formative years as the true source of his strength, keeping him grounded as a person and focused on striving for every scrap of success. “I grew up in a small town close to a dumpsite where people threw rubbish,” he says. “I came from a very poor background. We saved down to the last bone and it was difficult for us to get food. My mum was the one fending for the family. She was the breadwinner, actually, supporting her husband as well as us, and trying to send all her kids to school. When she passed on it was really difficult for the whole family, because she was like the pillar of the house.

“Where I grew up, in the streets of Lagos, has the same feeling as Naples” 

“My father tried to do one or two things to make sure he put food on the table. Sometimes he’d go where they were selling food to buy some on credit, just to make sure we had something to eat. Sometimes the landlord threatened to throw us out of the little property we had because we didn’t have the money to pay for rent. It’s difficult when you’re a child and you see this type of thing.”

Difficult but defining, it transpires. “I needed to succeed. I needed to make sure I could also contribute to the family’s growth, so I went onto the street at a very young age to sell bottled water in the traffic. My brother sold newspapers while my sisters sold oranges. At the end of each day we gave the money to our big sister to get something to eat, and that’s reflected in how I play and the passion I have for this game. I think I put all of what I’ve been through into my football. Yes I have talent, but the way I worked so hard before I became a professional player is what I put into my football.”

His route to stardom has undeniably required hard graft. Osimhen first glowed with potential by topping the goal charts as Nigeria won the 2015 U17 World Cup, yet he struggled to settle at Wolfsburg during his introduction to European football from 2017 to 2018. Subsequently rejected by two different Belgian clubs, he finally began to flourish during a loan spell at Charleroi, quickly followed by a breakthrough stint at LOSC Lille, where he was voted the French club’s player of the season for 2019/20. 

A month later he was packing his bags for Napoli, perhaps the perfect team in the perfect city for a player so keenly aware of his arduous background. Not for nothing is the club’s leading symbol the donkey: it’s a humble beast compared to thoroughbred northern rivals such as AC Milan and Juventus, but stubborn as hell and always ready to work. As Spalletti told a press conference in March, “There is a Neapolitan saying: ‘Whoever is hungry is not sleepy.’ That sums up our team.” 

Naples is no stranger to hardship and Osimhen is constantly reminded of his roots when he travels around town. “Where I grew up, in the streets of Lagos, actually has the same feeling as Naples,” he says. “Where I grew up and the struggle I’ve been through have shaped me and so when I see Naples, I reflect on where I’m from and it’s an amazing feeling. It’s one of the reasons I really love this city.”

In other words, forget the myth of the mask and the superhero spiel. Batman and Zorro never had to toil for a living, whereas Osimhen is typically among the first in a sky-blue shirt to roll up his sleeves. “He tracks back and helps in defence,” says central defender Minjae Kim, who also hails the “positive energy” of his team-mate up the pitch – an important voice last summer when the squad was wrestling with a string of high-profile departures. 

Napoli had just bid farewell to luminaries such as Kalidou Koulibaly, Lorenzo Insigne, Fabián Ruiz and Dries Mertens. A season of transition appeared inevitable. Osimhen, however, had a far more ambitious message. “If we stick together as a team, and we play as a team, I think we can achieve one or two very, very tangible things,” is how he remembers his pre-season rallying cry. 

“A lot of people had written us off and told us we were underdogs,” he adds now. “When someone places me as an underdog, I want to show what I can do.” That’s why he set about studying the game play of Napoli’s unheralded new signings – and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in particular, his leading partner in crime during a campaign of uncanny symbiosis with the Georgian revelation. 

“I’ve got a great relationship with the fans. Sometimes they come to my house to scream my name and sometimes I come outside. I take jerseys or shorts or my boots just to give them for an autograph.

“I’ve studied my wingers,” says Osimhen. “Sometimes I go on YouTube to watch the way they operate, so I know when they’ll want to cross the ball or play it in the space in between the defenders. When I go to the flank, [Kvaratskhelia] already knows, because that’s how we work in training; also, I’ve seen what he used to do. When I put my hand up, he knows where I am and to bring the ball in. We have a very good understanding, and I’m really happy for the kind of season he’s having. He’s been top for us.”

Both have now secured legendary status in a city that knows how to honour its heroes. Maradona, of course, still watches over Naples in painted form on the side of various buildings, a secular saint no less venerated than San Gennaro himself. But the spray cans have been busy with modern favourites too and Osimhen is chief among them, his face lovingly reproduced in eye-catching wall murals and recently used to decorate the side of a tram. One Neapolitan chef has even produced a cake to celebrate his exploits, capped off with a paper mask and a hazelnut topping to replicate his blonde tips.

“It’s a great honour to be considered one of the best players in this team,” says Osimhen. “Funnily enough, I haven’t been to the street where they put my [first] mural. I haven’t been because it’s always crowded, but some of my friends have sent me pictures and videos. The first time I saw this mural with my image, when my friend sent me the video, I had tears in my eyes. They were tears of joy because for me, a boy who came from the slum of Olusosun, I just had normal dreams like every other kid. To be idolised by fans from Naples and worldwide is a dream come true, and I couldn’t ask for anything more. I think I still have more to give these people.”

By all accounts he already gives a lot, not just with his goals but also the time he devotes to supporters. “I’ve got a great relationship with the fans. Sometimes they come to my house to scream my name and sometimes I come outside. I take jerseys or shorts or my boots just to give them for an autograph. I remember when I came in 2020, I had some serious problems settling down due to Covid and I know the support they gave me. Being able to repay these amazing fans means making sure I fight for the badge every time I put on the jersey. It’s an honour for me to put on the Napoli jersey to play, to represent them. I really appreciate it and I don’t take it for granted.”

Neither does a city so intolerably starved of success until this season of unexpected thrills. A city ever hopeful but still caught off guard by the synchronised brilliance of Osimhen and Co. Now… never three without four? 

Celebrating Napoli's first Scudetto since the Maradona years (left)
Celebrating Napoli's first Scudetto since the Maradona years (left)

Three is very much the magic number in Naples. As it has been for centuries, a figure seared into the city’s active imagination by revered local patron saint San Gennaro. Three times every year, his dried blood is said to turn to liquid in the vials that store it, an occasion marked by a street procession of thousands and an elaborate ritual as the archbishop displays the purported miracle to the devout and curious alike. As Neapolitan legend has it, should the blood fail to liquify even one time out of three, disaster awaits. And with Mount Vesuvius brewing next door, that is no laughing matter.

Make your own pilgrimage to Naples these days and the number three will be everywhere you look: on wall murals, in shop windows, across commemorative T-shirts, on banners hung proudly from windows or slung over balconies. But for a very different reason. Football is a rival, albeit overlapping religion in the capital of Campania and, at the time of writing, the local faithful are finally closing in on a sacred trinity of their own: Napoli’s long-awaited third Serie A title.

Never two without three? It is 33 years since Diego Maradona drove the team to their second Scudetto in four seasons, an era of dizzying success that was gone as quickly as it came. For decades, the club trophy cabinet seemed to provide dusty evidence to the contrary, a painful exception to the rule of three. But the Azzurri are back on top of the Italian game at last – and zero miracles have been involved.

“This season has been fantastic for us and the fans,” says Osimhen, the razor-sharp tip of the Napoli spear. “We still have more games to go, but in the fans’ heads we’ve already won the league and they find any cause to celebrate early. It’s an amazing thing, an amazing feeling, and they deserve this too. I think the last time they had this kind of feeling was when they won the league 33 years ago. The passion and eagerness to get this trophy to Naples… it has been one of their lifelong dreams and now it’s finally happening. I’m really happy for them, and I’m also happy to be part of history.”

The Nigerian forward has certainly been that, with Napoli also reaching the last eight of the Champions League/European Cup for the first time this season; while exiting at the hands of AC Milan was disappointing, it was offset by domestic affairs. Osimhen’s scoring record of close to a goal a game in Serie A this term has placed him front and centre as the star turn in Luciano Spalletti’s deftly assembled team. In his third season at the club – that number again – he looks well placed to finish top scorer in the Italian top flight and become the first African player to take the Capocanonniere crown, a feat that eluded such gifted goal hounds as Samuel Eto’o and George Weah. 

Osimhen’s own idol, Didier Drogba, never played in Serie A. But the 24-year-old received high praise from the Chelsea great’s old coach José Mourinho in January when he struck in a 2-1 defeat of Roma, during a prolific run of registering in eight consecutive games. “He is on the same level as Drogba,” commented the Roma boss, attesting to Osimhen’s improved finishing since he was named best young player in the Italian elite last term. Already a handful for defenders with his leggy pace, rock-solid body strength and instinct to attack space, the Napoli No9 has graduated into the top echelon of modern forwards, his name now intoned with the likes of Erling Haaland.

For the more superstitious fans, Osimhen’s transformation from the player who struggled with injury and Covid-19 during his debut season can be put down to one thing: the mask that has become the defining feature of his public image. He has worn it for protection since nearly losing his eyesight in November 2021, when a challenge with Inter defender Milan Škriniar left him needing six plaques and 18 screws inserted into his face during a three-hour procedure. Even his surgeon, Dr Gianpaolo Tartaro, has suggested that “he seems to play better than he did before”.

“A lot of people say it’s a lucky mask, but I don’t really think so,” counters Osimhen. “I just put it on to protect my face from getting the type of injury I had earlier, but of course I also see it as a very good thing because ever since putting it on, I’ve been on the way to the top. I wouldn’t actually put the season I’m having down to the mask. I know the kind of player I am and I know what I can be with or without the mask, but of course it is also a great asset for me. It’s been my trademark and I don’t think I can take it off. I will continue to use it until I finish my career.”

Colourful support for Napoli in Naples (right)
Colourful support for Napoli in Naples (right)
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“The mask is a great asset for me. It’s been my trademark and I don’t think I can take it off. I will continue to use it until I finish my career”
The notorious Osimhen masks

The mask has undoubtedly helped boost his profile, lending him a superhero swagger in a game always hungry for characters. With it he cuts a dash like a contemporary Zorro, or the blond-haired Batman of calcio, leading the charge for a club that – appropriately enough – is owned by film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis. Fans of all ages have started to wear imitation masks in his honour, from former Italy striker Luca Toni to a young Torino mascot at a Serie A game in March. Can even Osimhen admit to feeling the pull of its symbolic power?

“I think so, because now a lot of kids also put on a mask,” he says. “I remember when we played Torino and I didn’t know that mascot had the mask under his shirt. After we finished the handshake we were supposed to leave, but I saw him put on the mask. For me to be a role model to this kid… If someone told me a few years ago that this is how it was going to be, I can’t lie, I would have doubted it. To continue inspiring that kid – everyone I’ve inspired – means I have to keep going and keep on moving to the top.”

Evidently the superhero hype has not gone to Osimhen’s head. And as he recounts the story of his gruelling childhood, nor does he hide who he is beneath the mask. 

Raised near the Olusosun landfill in Lagos, Osimhen lost his mother at a young age. But he credits those formative years as the true source of his strength, keeping him grounded as a person and focused on striving for every scrap of success. “I grew up in a small town close to a dumpsite where people threw rubbish,” he says. “I came from a very poor background. We saved down to the last bone and it was difficult for us to get food. My mum was the one fending for the family. She was the breadwinner, actually, supporting her husband as well as us, and trying to send all her kids to school. When she passed on it was really difficult for the whole family, because she was like the pillar of the house.

“Where I grew up, in the streets of Lagos, has the same feeling as Naples” 

“My father tried to do one or two things to make sure he put food on the table. Sometimes he’d go where they were selling food to buy some on credit, just to make sure we had something to eat. Sometimes the landlord threatened to throw us out of the little property we had because we didn’t have the money to pay for rent. It’s difficult when you’re a child and you see this type of thing.”

Difficult but defining, it transpires. “I needed to succeed. I needed to make sure I could also contribute to the family’s growth, so I went onto the street at a very young age to sell bottled water in the traffic. My brother sold newspapers while my sisters sold oranges. At the end of each day we gave the money to our big sister to get something to eat, and that’s reflected in how I play and the passion I have for this game. I think I put all of what I’ve been through into my football. Yes I have talent, but the way I worked so hard before I became a professional player is what I put into my football.”

His route to stardom has undeniably required hard graft. Osimhen first glowed with potential by topping the goal charts as Nigeria won the 2015 U17 World Cup, yet he struggled to settle at Wolfsburg during his introduction to European football from 2017 to 2018. Subsequently rejected by two different Belgian clubs, he finally began to flourish during a loan spell at Charleroi, quickly followed by a breakthrough stint at LOSC Lille, where he was voted the French club’s player of the season for 2019/20. 

A month later he was packing his bags for Napoli, perhaps the perfect team in the perfect city for a player so keenly aware of his arduous background. Not for nothing is the club’s leading symbol the donkey: it’s a humble beast compared to thoroughbred northern rivals such as AC Milan and Juventus, but stubborn as hell and always ready to work. As Spalletti told a press conference in March, “There is a Neapolitan saying: ‘Whoever is hungry is not sleepy.’ That sums up our team.” 

Naples is no stranger to hardship and Osimhen is constantly reminded of his roots when he travels around town. “Where I grew up, in the streets of Lagos, actually has the same feeling as Naples,” he says. “Where I grew up and the struggle I’ve been through have shaped me and so when I see Naples, I reflect on where I’m from and it’s an amazing feeling. It’s one of the reasons I really love this city.”

In other words, forget the myth of the mask and the superhero spiel. Batman and Zorro never had to toil for a living, whereas Osimhen is typically among the first in a sky-blue shirt to roll up his sleeves. “He tracks back and helps in defence,” says central defender Minjae Kim, who also hails the “positive energy” of his team-mate up the pitch – an important voice last summer when the squad was wrestling with a string of high-profile departures. 

Napoli had just bid farewell to luminaries such as Kalidou Koulibaly, Lorenzo Insigne, Fabián Ruiz and Dries Mertens. A season of transition appeared inevitable. Osimhen, however, had a far more ambitious message. “If we stick together as a team, and we play as a team, I think we can achieve one or two very, very tangible things,” is how he remembers his pre-season rallying cry. 

“A lot of people had written us off and told us we were underdogs,” he adds now. “When someone places me as an underdog, I want to show what I can do.” That’s why he set about studying the game play of Napoli’s unheralded new signings – and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in particular, his leading partner in crime during a campaign of uncanny symbiosis with the Georgian revelation. 

“I’ve got a great relationship with the fans. Sometimes they come to my house to scream my name and sometimes I come outside. I take jerseys or shorts or my boots just to give them for an autograph.

“I’ve studied my wingers,” says Osimhen. “Sometimes I go on YouTube to watch the way they operate, so I know when they’ll want to cross the ball or play it in the space in between the defenders. When I go to the flank, [Kvaratskhelia] already knows, because that’s how we work in training; also, I’ve seen what he used to do. When I put my hand up, he knows where I am and to bring the ball in. We have a very good understanding, and I’m really happy for the kind of season he’s having. He’s been top for us.”

Both have now secured legendary status in a city that knows how to honour its heroes. Maradona, of course, still watches over Naples in painted form on the side of various buildings, a secular saint no less venerated than San Gennaro himself. But the spray cans have been busy with modern favourites too and Osimhen is chief among them, his face lovingly reproduced in eye-catching wall murals and recently used to decorate the side of a tram. One Neapolitan chef has even produced a cake to celebrate his exploits, capped off with a paper mask and a hazelnut topping to replicate his blonde tips.

“It’s a great honour to be considered one of the best players in this team,” says Osimhen. “Funnily enough, I haven’t been to the street where they put my [first] mural. I haven’t been because it’s always crowded, but some of my friends have sent me pictures and videos. The first time I saw this mural with my image, when my friend sent me the video, I had tears in my eyes. They were tears of joy because for me, a boy who came from the slum of Olusosun, I just had normal dreams like every other kid. To be idolised by fans from Naples and worldwide is a dream come true, and I couldn’t ask for anything more. I think I still have more to give these people.”

By all accounts he already gives a lot, not just with his goals but also the time he devotes to supporters. “I’ve got a great relationship with the fans. Sometimes they come to my house to scream my name and sometimes I come outside. I take jerseys or shorts or my boots just to give them for an autograph. I remember when I came in 2020, I had some serious problems settling down due to Covid and I know the support they gave me. Being able to repay these amazing fans means making sure I fight for the badge every time I put on the jersey. It’s an honour for me to put on the Napoli jersey to play, to represent them. I really appreciate it and I don’t take it for granted.”

Neither does a city so intolerably starved of success until this season of unexpected thrills. A city ever hopeful but still caught off guard by the synchronised brilliance of Osimhen and Co. Now… never three without four? 

Celebrating Napoli's first Scudetto since the Maradona years (left)
Celebrating Napoli's first Scudetto since the Maradona years (left)

Three is very much the magic number in Naples. As it has been for centuries, a figure seared into the city’s active imagination by revered local patron saint San Gennaro. Three times every year, his dried blood is said to turn to liquid in the vials that store it, an occasion marked by a street procession of thousands and an elaborate ritual as the archbishop displays the purported miracle to the devout and curious alike. As Neapolitan legend has it, should the blood fail to liquify even one time out of three, disaster awaits. And with Mount Vesuvius brewing next door, that is no laughing matter.

Make your own pilgrimage to Naples these days and the number three will be everywhere you look: on wall murals, in shop windows, across commemorative T-shirts, on banners hung proudly from windows or slung over balconies. But for a very different reason. Football is a rival, albeit overlapping religion in the capital of Campania and, at the time of writing, the local faithful are finally closing in on a sacred trinity of their own: Napoli’s long-awaited third Serie A title.

Never two without three? It is 33 years since Diego Maradona drove the team to their second Scudetto in four seasons, an era of dizzying success that was gone as quickly as it came. For decades, the club trophy cabinet seemed to provide dusty evidence to the contrary, a painful exception to the rule of three. But the Azzurri are back on top of the Italian game at last – and zero miracles have been involved.

“This season has been fantastic for us and the fans,” says Osimhen, the razor-sharp tip of the Napoli spear. “We still have more games to go, but in the fans’ heads we’ve already won the league and they find any cause to celebrate early. It’s an amazing thing, an amazing feeling, and they deserve this too. I think the last time they had this kind of feeling was when they won the league 33 years ago. The passion and eagerness to get this trophy to Naples… it has been one of their lifelong dreams and now it’s finally happening. I’m really happy for them, and I’m also happy to be part of history.”

The Nigerian forward has certainly been that, with Napoli also reaching the last eight of the Champions League/European Cup for the first time this season; while exiting at the hands of AC Milan was disappointing, it was offset by domestic affairs. Osimhen’s scoring record of close to a goal a game in Serie A this term has placed him front and centre as the star turn in Luciano Spalletti’s deftly assembled team. In his third season at the club – that number again – he looks well placed to finish top scorer in the Italian top flight and become the first African player to take the Capocanonniere crown, a feat that eluded such gifted goal hounds as Samuel Eto’o and George Weah. 

Osimhen’s own idol, Didier Drogba, never played in Serie A. But the 24-year-old received high praise from the Chelsea great’s old coach José Mourinho in January when he struck in a 2-1 defeat of Roma, during a prolific run of registering in eight consecutive games. “He is on the same level as Drogba,” commented the Roma boss, attesting to Osimhen’s improved finishing since he was named best young player in the Italian elite last term. Already a handful for defenders with his leggy pace, rock-solid body strength and instinct to attack space, the Napoli No9 has graduated into the top echelon of modern forwards, his name now intoned with the likes of Erling Haaland.

For the more superstitious fans, Osimhen’s transformation from the player who struggled with injury and Covid-19 during his debut season can be put down to one thing: the mask that has become the defining feature of his public image. He has worn it for protection since nearly losing his eyesight in November 2021, when a challenge with Inter defender Milan Škriniar left him needing six plaques and 18 screws inserted into his face during a three-hour procedure. Even his surgeon, Dr Gianpaolo Tartaro, has suggested that “he seems to play better than he did before”.

“A lot of people say it’s a lucky mask, but I don’t really think so,” counters Osimhen. “I just put it on to protect my face from getting the type of injury I had earlier, but of course I also see it as a very good thing because ever since putting it on, I’ve been on the way to the top. I wouldn’t actually put the season I’m having down to the mask. I know the kind of player I am and I know what I can be with or without the mask, but of course it is also a great asset for me. It’s been my trademark and I don’t think I can take it off. I will continue to use it until I finish my career.”

Colourful support for Napoli in Naples (right)
Colourful support for Napoli in Naples (right)
“The mask is a great asset for me. It’s been my trademark and I don’t think I can take it off. I will continue to use it until I finish my career”
The notorious Osimhen masks

The mask has undoubtedly helped boost his profile, lending him a superhero swagger in a game always hungry for characters. With it he cuts a dash like a contemporary Zorro, or the blond-haired Batman of calcio, leading the charge for a club that – appropriately enough – is owned by film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis. Fans of all ages have started to wear imitation masks in his honour, from former Italy striker Luca Toni to a young Torino mascot at a Serie A game in March. Can even Osimhen admit to feeling the pull of its symbolic power?

“I think so, because now a lot of kids also put on a mask,” he says. “I remember when we played Torino and I didn’t know that mascot had the mask under his shirt. After we finished the handshake we were supposed to leave, but I saw him put on the mask. For me to be a role model to this kid… If someone told me a few years ago that this is how it was going to be, I can’t lie, I would have doubted it. To continue inspiring that kid – everyone I’ve inspired – means I have to keep going and keep on moving to the top.”

Evidently the superhero hype has not gone to Osimhen’s head. And as he recounts the story of his gruelling childhood, nor does he hide who he is beneath the mask. 

Raised near the Olusosun landfill in Lagos, Osimhen lost his mother at a young age. But he credits those formative years as the true source of his strength, keeping him grounded as a person and focused on striving for every scrap of success. “I grew up in a small town close to a dumpsite where people threw rubbish,” he says. “I came from a very poor background. We saved down to the last bone and it was difficult for us to get food. My mum was the one fending for the family. She was the breadwinner, actually, supporting her husband as well as us, and trying to send all her kids to school. When she passed on it was really difficult for the whole family, because she was like the pillar of the house.

“Where I grew up, in the streets of Lagos, has the same feeling as Naples” 

“My father tried to do one or two things to make sure he put food on the table. Sometimes he’d go where they were selling food to buy some on credit, just to make sure we had something to eat. Sometimes the landlord threatened to throw us out of the little property we had because we didn’t have the money to pay for rent. It’s difficult when you’re a child and you see this type of thing.”

Difficult but defining, it transpires. “I needed to succeed. I needed to make sure I could also contribute to the family’s growth, so I went onto the street at a very young age to sell bottled water in the traffic. My brother sold newspapers while my sisters sold oranges. At the end of each day we gave the money to our big sister to get something to eat, and that’s reflected in how I play and the passion I have for this game. I think I put all of what I’ve been through into my football. Yes I have talent, but the way I worked so hard before I became a professional player is what I put into my football.”

His route to stardom has undeniably required hard graft. Osimhen first glowed with potential by topping the goal charts as Nigeria won the 2015 U17 World Cup, yet he struggled to settle at Wolfsburg during his introduction to European football from 2017 to 2018. Subsequently rejected by two different Belgian clubs, he finally began to flourish during a loan spell at Charleroi, quickly followed by a breakthrough stint at LOSC Lille, where he was voted the French club’s player of the season for 2019/20. 

A month later he was packing his bags for Napoli, perhaps the perfect team in the perfect city for a player so keenly aware of his arduous background. Not for nothing is the club’s leading symbol the donkey: it’s a humble beast compared to thoroughbred northern rivals such as AC Milan and Juventus, but stubborn as hell and always ready to work. As Spalletti told a press conference in March, “There is a Neapolitan saying: ‘Whoever is hungry is not sleepy.’ That sums up our team.” 

Naples is no stranger to hardship and Osimhen is constantly reminded of his roots when he travels around town. “Where I grew up, in the streets of Lagos, actually has the same feeling as Naples,” he says. “Where I grew up and the struggle I’ve been through have shaped me and so when I see Naples, I reflect on where I’m from and it’s an amazing feeling. It’s one of the reasons I really love this city.”

In other words, forget the myth of the mask and the superhero spiel. Batman and Zorro never had to toil for a living, whereas Osimhen is typically among the first in a sky-blue shirt to roll up his sleeves. “He tracks back and helps in defence,” says central defender Minjae Kim, who also hails the “positive energy” of his team-mate up the pitch – an important voice last summer when the squad was wrestling with a string of high-profile departures. 

Napoli had just bid farewell to luminaries such as Kalidou Koulibaly, Lorenzo Insigne, Fabián Ruiz and Dries Mertens. A season of transition appeared inevitable. Osimhen, however, had a far more ambitious message. “If we stick together as a team, and we play as a team, I think we can achieve one or two very, very tangible things,” is how he remembers his pre-season rallying cry. 

“A lot of people had written us off and told us we were underdogs,” he adds now. “When someone places me as an underdog, I want to show what I can do.” That’s why he set about studying the game play of Napoli’s unheralded new signings – and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in particular, his leading partner in crime during a campaign of uncanny symbiosis with the Georgian revelation. 

“I’ve got a great relationship with the fans. Sometimes they come to my house to scream my name and sometimes I come outside. I take jerseys or shorts or my boots just to give them for an autograph.

“I’ve studied my wingers,” says Osimhen. “Sometimes I go on YouTube to watch the way they operate, so I know when they’ll want to cross the ball or play it in the space in between the defenders. When I go to the flank, [Kvaratskhelia] already knows, because that’s how we work in training; also, I’ve seen what he used to do. When I put my hand up, he knows where I am and to bring the ball in. We have a very good understanding, and I’m really happy for the kind of season he’s having. He’s been top for us.”

Both have now secured legendary status in a city that knows how to honour its heroes. Maradona, of course, still watches over Naples in painted form on the side of various buildings, a secular saint no less venerated than San Gennaro himself. But the spray cans have been busy with modern favourites too and Osimhen is chief among them, his face lovingly reproduced in eye-catching wall murals and recently used to decorate the side of a tram. One Neapolitan chef has even produced a cake to celebrate his exploits, capped off with a paper mask and a hazelnut topping to replicate his blonde tips.

“It’s a great honour to be considered one of the best players in this team,” says Osimhen. “Funnily enough, I haven’t been to the street where they put my [first] mural. I haven’t been because it’s always crowded, but some of my friends have sent me pictures and videos. The first time I saw this mural with my image, when my friend sent me the video, I had tears in my eyes. They were tears of joy because for me, a boy who came from the slum of Olusosun, I just had normal dreams like every other kid. To be idolised by fans from Naples and worldwide is a dream come true, and I couldn’t ask for anything more. I think I still have more to give these people.”

By all accounts he already gives a lot, not just with his goals but also the time he devotes to supporters. “I’ve got a great relationship with the fans. Sometimes they come to my house to scream my name and sometimes I come outside. I take jerseys or shorts or my boots just to give them for an autograph. I remember when I came in 2020, I had some serious problems settling down due to Covid and I know the support they gave me. Being able to repay these amazing fans means making sure I fight for the badge every time I put on the jersey. It’s an honour for me to put on the Napoli jersey to play, to represent them. I really appreciate it and I don’t take it for granted.”

Neither does a city so intolerably starved of success until this season of unexpected thrills. A city ever hopeful but still caught off guard by the synchronised brilliance of Osimhen and Co. Now… never three without four? 

Celebrating Napoli's first Scudetto since the Maradona years (left)
Celebrating Napoli's first Scudetto since the Maradona years (left)
Insight
How to score the perfect header
Victor Osimhen shares the secrets behind a stunning Champions League goal

Few strikers in Europe can match Victor Osimhen for headed goals this season. The Napoli ace has been nodding them in left and right, utilising power and panache to target every part of the net. Standing a ‘mere’ 1.85m tall, he is far from the tallest striker to have haunted the penalty areas of Italy, and yet he leapt a remarkable 2.58m to head in against Spezia in February, putting him second on the all-time Serie A leaderboard behind Fikayo Tomori – and ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo. 

Osimhen took the breath away with another remarkable jump and headed goal in the Champions League this season, his first of two strikes at home to Frankfurt in the round of 16. That was no fluke either, Osimhen having tirelessly worked on his aerial game for as long as he can remember. “Heading is one of my greatest assets,” he says. “I’ve been doing this since I was a child. I normally juggle the ball with my head, sometimes 50 to 100 times, so for me it’s much easier.”

Crucially he had also analysed the movements of his team-mate who delivered the cross, Matteo Politano. “When I joined I was able to watch one or two of his games. Whenever he’s going on the right side, he always comes back on the left to bring the ball in. I think he’s given me this type of assist four times now.”

With the ball in the air, everything then came down to remaining focused for the finish. “I knew I could get it so, when the ball came, I was looking at the ball, not even at the goalkeeper,” explains Osimhen. “I already knew where the goal was. The leap was really amazing for me and the technique was good too, because I didn’t hit the ball too hard. I just set my forehead and the ball came to hit me. It was just the direction I aimed it that made the goal really beautiful.”

Insight
How to score the perfect header
Victor Osimhen shares the secrets behind a stunning Champions League goal

Few strikers in Europe can match Victor Osimhen for headed goals this season. The Napoli ace has been nodding them in left and right, utilising power and panache to target every part of the net. Standing a ‘mere’ 1.85m tall, he is far from the tallest striker to have haunted the penalty areas of Italy, and yet he leapt a remarkable 2.58m to head in against Spezia in February, putting him second on the all-time Serie A leaderboard behind Fikayo Tomori – and ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo. 

Osimhen took the breath away with another remarkable jump and headed goal in the Champions League this season, his first of two strikes at home to Frankfurt in the round of 16. That was no fluke either, Osimhen having tirelessly worked on his aerial game for as long as he can remember. “Heading is one of my greatest assets,” he says. “I’ve been doing this since I was a child. I normally juggle the ball with my head, sometimes 50 to 100 times, so for me it’s much easier.”

Crucially he had also analysed the movements of his team-mate who delivered the cross, Matteo Politano. “When I joined I was able to watch one or two of his games. Whenever he’s going on the right side, he always comes back on the left to bring the ball in. I think he’s given me this type of assist four times now.”

With the ball in the air, everything then came down to remaining focused for the finish. “I knew I could get it so, when the ball came, I was looking at the ball, not even at the goalkeeper,” explains Osimhen. “I already knew where the goal was. The leap was really amazing for me and the technique was good too, because I didn’t hit the ball too hard. I just set my forehead and the ball came to hit me. It was just the direction I aimed it that made the goal really beautiful.”

Insight
How to score the perfect header
Victor Osimhen shares the secrets behind a stunning Champions League goal

Few strikers in Europe can match Victor Osimhen for headed goals this season. The Napoli ace has been nodding them in left and right, utilising power and panache to target every part of the net. Standing a ‘mere’ 1.85m tall, he is far from the tallest striker to have haunted the penalty areas of Italy, and yet he leapt a remarkable 2.58m to head in against Spezia in February, putting him second on the all-time Serie A leaderboard behind Fikayo Tomori – and ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo. 

Osimhen took the breath away with another remarkable jump and headed goal in the Champions League this season, his first of two strikes at home to Frankfurt in the round of 16. That was no fluke either, Osimhen having tirelessly worked on his aerial game for as long as he can remember. “Heading is one of my greatest assets,” he says. “I’ve been doing this since I was a child. I normally juggle the ball with my head, sometimes 50 to 100 times, so for me it’s much easier.”

Crucially he had also analysed the movements of his team-mate who delivered the cross, Matteo Politano. “When I joined I was able to watch one or two of his games. Whenever he’s going on the right side, he always comes back on the left to bring the ball in. I think he’s given me this type of assist four times now.”

With the ball in the air, everything then came down to remaining focused for the finish. “I knew I could get it so, when the ball came, I was looking at the ball, not even at the goalkeeper,” explains Osimhen. “I already knew where the goal was. The leap was really amazing for me and the technique was good too, because I didn’t hit the ball too hard. I just set my forehead and the ball came to hit me. It was just the direction I aimed it that made the goal really beautiful.”

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