Samuel Chukwueze has said Nigeria teammate and Napoli striker Victor Osimhen wanted him to join AC Milan from Villarreal.
Speaking after completing his transfer to the Serie A giants for €20 million plus up to €8 million in various add-ons and performance-related bonuses on Thursday,
Chukwueze said Osimhen told him Milan was a great club and that he shouldn’t hesitate to join them.
“Osimhen said, ‘Samuel, Milan is the best club; don’t hesitate to sign for them. They are fantastic, the fans are amazing, and they are crazy about football,” the 24-year-old told the official website of Milan.
He added: “He played a major role in making me sign for AC Milan, as he said I should come to Italy.”
Chukwueze, who is expected to form an intimidating strike partnership with Rafael Leao, said he initially thought Milan’s interest in him was a joke and that he didn’t think twice about making the switch.
He said, “It was crazy; I was a little bit nervous. Milan fans sent me messages; they are amazing people, and that was one of the reasons I came here.
When they told me about the approach, I thought they were joking. I didn’t think about it twice.”
Chukwueze joined Villarreal CF’s prolific youth setup in 2017 from local side Diamond Football Academy. After being initially assigned to the club’s Juvenil A squad, he made his senior debut with the reserves on April 15, 2018, coming on as a second-half substitute for Sergio Lozano in a 1-1 Segunda División B away draw against CE Sabadell FC.
He scored his first senior goal on May 20, 2018, netting his team’s second in a 3–2 away defeat of Bilbao Athletic, and ended up scoring a total of 21 goals in 155 appearances for the Yellow Submarines from 2018–2023.
