I swapped jerseys with Haaland through Ostigard – Osimhen reveals

Napoli talisman Victor Osimhen has declared his admiration for Manchester City's Erling Haaland.

The two frontmen have been undoubtedly the most prolific strikers in Europe this season in the Serie A and the Premier League.

Haaland, 22, has netted an astonishing 30 goals in 27 PL appearances this season for the Cityzens.

Osimhen, 24, has also managed 21 goals in 23 appearances for the Naples-based club.

Speaking in an interview with Daily Mail, the Super Eagles strikers hailed the Norwegian international as one of the best strikers in the current era.

The Napoli Starman added that comparison with Haaland only inspires him to work hard as a player.

“I play with Leo Ostigard at Napoli, who is very good friends with Haaland and plays for Norway with him,” Osimhen told the Daily Mail.

“I am a fan of the Bundesliga, so I’ve followed him for a while and every weekend he seems to score two, three, four goals. Ostigard spoke to me a lot about him, how hard he trained, then one day he said: ‘If you want, I can bring you his shirt.” I said: ‘Of course, bro.’

“So he spoke to Haaland, who also asked for my shirt, so we swapped them through Ostigard. He is one of the best of his generation so to be compared with him – and considered one of the best strikers in the world – only inspires me to do more.

“I can score four goals in a game, I can provide more assists, I can do many more things as I have the quality to execute them. I need to work even harder and then at the end of my career I can hopefully look back and say yes, I did some wonderful things.

“Everyone watches the EPL (Premier League), it is really competitive, but Serie A is also one of the strongest leagues. When Cristiano Ronaldo played there, he said the same thing. I am really happy to be there.”

Osimhen is set to miss the first leg of Napoli's crucial UEFA Champions League quarterfinal clash against AC Milan later today (Wednesday, April 12).

WDN