Golden Eaglets star, Victor Osimhen will join Wolfsburg from January next year, the Bundesliga club have announced.
According to the terms of the deal, the Osimhen agreement with mark the kick-off of a working relationship between Wolfsburg and Ultimate Strikers Academy, who hold the Golden Eaglets striker’s rights.
“VfL Wolfsburg have agreed on an immediate cooperation with the Ultimate Strikers Academy from Nigeria,” Wolfsburg wrote on their official English language website on Thursday.
“Talented individuals from the elite football academy receive the opportunity to participate in training activities with the teams from the youth performance centre, the U23 team and also the Bundesliga side as guest players. Parallel, there is also a multi-faceted exchange programme, with the focus on a transfer of knowledge to the Ultimate Strikers Academy, to encourage such elements as modern training techniques, sport medicine or sport technology.
“The start of the cooperation was marked by the visit of 17-year-old academy and junior international Victor Osimhen to Wolfsburg, where he will spend several days as a guest, training with the professional Bundesliga team. Further visits of talented young Nigerian players to Wolfsburg are already being planned.”
Wolfsburg then insisted that Osimhen, top scorer at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup with a record 10 goals, will not become an official player for the club until 2017, when he will be 18.
“We are delighted to welcome our first international cooperation partner, in the Ultimate Strikers Academy, here as VfL Wolfsburg. For talented youngsters such as Victor Osimhen, it is a major advantage to combine the games at home with the academy team, with knowledge of youth training and operational processes in European professional football,” explained VfL’s Director of Sport Klaus Allofs, who went on to emphasise that the transfer of Victor Osimhen to VfL had been agreed upon as from January 1st, 2017.
“This cooperation is a massive step for our academy. The training and working conditions at VfL Wolfsburg are very impressive. We are very happy to be in a position to benefit from the know-how at VfL in terms of talent development. This exchange is a real milestone for us,” commented Ultimate Strikers Academy president, Chinedu Moses Ogbenna.
Through the exchange programme, it is also intended to convey to young Nigerian hopefuls just which sporting demands are connected with taking the step to Europe.
Olaf Rebbe, Director of Sport at VfL Wolfsburg, added: “Through such co-operations, talented youngsters are far better prepared for the step into professional football, whilst at the same time, we can provide our own coaches and staff at the youth performance centre, as well as our U23 team, with the opportunity to look outside of the box and play a sustained role in assisting the development of football in Nigeria.”