Even without football, I would have made it — Osimhen

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Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has declared that his self-belief runs so deep he is convinced he would have achieved financial success even if football had never been his path, recounting how he woke as early as 3am to hustle during his difficult early years.

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The striker also described Turkish club Galatasaray as more than a football club to him, saying he felt an immediate connection from the moment he arrived on loan and that even his daughter has developed a deeper attachment to the club than he has.

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Osimhen spoke during a Twitch livestream with comedian Carter Efe in the early hours of Saturday. He is currently in Nigeria recovering from a broken arm sustained in Galatasaray’s UEFA Champions League match against Liverpool.

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“I get that belief in myself, even when I was in the trenches when it was tough. The way we had to hustle.

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“There’s no legit work that you’ll call me for that you won’t meet me there around five in the morning or four or three. Wake me up, I go hustle,” the striker said.

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Osimhen said that mindset, forged during his years of hardship, gave him certainty that his success was inevitable regardless of the route it took.

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“Even if not through football, I will have money like mad. That’s the way I believe. That’s the way I believe in myself,” he said.

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On his relationship with Galatasaray, Osimhen said his loan move to the Istanbul club came at a particularly difficult period in his career, and that the warmth he encountered there stood in sharp contrast to experiences elsewhere.

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“Gala is more than a club for me. We’re meant to cross paths, me and that club.

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“When you enter that club, you realise and see the way that it treats players, the way they give their sweat for the badge. From other experiences, you see they deprive players of real love,” he added.

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He said the love extended beyond the dressing room to supporters around the world, and that his family had been equally swept up in it.

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“Even my daughter, they’re more inclined to that club than me,” he said.

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Osimhen added that the quality of treatment he received from the club, its staff and the people around him was a rare privilege in professional football.

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“Some players will go like 10 years of their career, 20 years, they will not get that kind of love,” he said.

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