Lille sign Osimhen as Pepe nears exit

Lille have completed the signing of Nigeria forward Victor Osimhen on a five-year contract from Sporting Charleroi.

Osimhen looks set to fill the void left by Nicolas Pepe, who Lille president Gerard Lopez confirmed is poised to join Arsenal in an €80million move.

The 20-year-old did not score a goal for Wolfsburg after starting his professional career with the Bundesliga club.

However, he netted 20 times on loan at Charleroi last season, who activated their option to sign him permanently in May.

A big #LOSC welcome to our newest signing, forward Victor Osimhen, who joins us from Sporting Charleroi on a five-year deal! pic.twitter.com/QNEXndri0Z

— LOSC Lille EN (@LOSC_EN) August 1, 2019

But he will now continue his career in Ligue 1 and have a tough challenge to match the contribution of Pepe, who scored 23 goals in all competitions as Lille finished second behind Paris Saint-Germain last term.

“Lille is a very good club that leads a quality project and includes high class players, even more in recent years. Great Nigerian players have also played here. I would like to join their lineage and follow their footsteps,” Osimhen told the club’s website. 

“I am very happy to be here and to join this great club. I am still young, I am learning and I think that this project suits me perfectly to continue to progress.”