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This summer, Nigerian star Victor Osimhen was linked to several European giants, and ending up being signed by Napoli in a €70m move from Lille.

The 21-year-old has been drawing attention from several clubs since he was in youth football, and Italian expert Gianni Di Marzio claims he wanted Queens Park Rangers to sign him many years ago.

The football consultant was live on Radio CRC today, and when speaking of Osimhem, claimed that he wanted to take the attacker to Loftus Road after seeing him featuring in a youth tournament for Nigeria.

“I saw him in 2015 in Chile: he scored many goals for Nigeria, also beating Brazil which usually wins the youth competitions. There were teams from all over the world and Osimhen scored ten goals,” Di Marzio told CRC (via Area Napoli).

“I wanted to get him caught by Queens Park Rangers immediately, but he was not yet 18. In Lagos, if you are not 18, you cannot leave.”

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Osimhem left Nigeria when moving to Wolfsburg in 2017. He later moved to Belgian side Charleroi, then stood-out for Lille and attracted the interest from Napoli.

Many clubs manage to sign youngsters from overseas by making agreements which only allow them to take the player when they turn 18. Perhaps QPR weren’t patient enough to wait for Osimhen, and if that’s the case, that was probably a mistake from the Championship side.