By Emmanuel Nduka Obisue
Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen on Monday reportedly threatened to leave Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) camp in Morocco and return to his club, Galatasaray, following an on-field altercation with teammate Ademola Lookman.
The incident occurred in the 62nd minute of Nigeria’s emphatic 4–0 victory over Mozambique in their AFCON 2025 Round of 16 encounter. Osimhen was visibly upset after a disagreement with Lookman over a pass, with television footage showing the forward gesturing angrily and appearing to tell his teammate, “listen to me, it is a team game”.
Despite attempts by captain Wilfred Ndidi to calm him, Osimhen signalled to head coach Eric Chelle that he wanted to be substituted. He briefly stopped participating in play before being withdrawn in the 68th minute and replaced by Moses Simon.
The Napoli-born striker’s frustration carried on after the final whistle as he stormed straight into the tunnel, skipping the post-match celebrations and the team’s customary on-pitch huddle.
Local media Peoples Gazette quoting an anonymous source familiar with the situation, on Tuesday reported that Osimhen later dropped his accreditation tag in the dressing room and threatened to quit the tournament with immediate effect to return to his club.
The source added that it remained unclear whether the disagreement had been fully resolved within the squad.
Lookman Moves On
Downplaying the incident, Lookman insisted there was no bad blood between him and Osimhen. Speaking at the post-match press conference, he said the focus should remain on the team’s dominant win.
“The team won 4–0. Vic is our number one guy, everybody knows this,” Lookman said. “He is a top striker and a top player. All the rest of that is not important,” he added. “There’s no issue. It’s just football, always football. He’s my brother,” the Atlanta player insisted.
Taking to his Instagram handle after the game, Lookman wrote: “Together we can”, along with a photo of himself and Osimhen, appearing to have fully moved on from the on-field scuffle.
Head coach Eric Chelle also sought to calm tensions, stressing that internal matters would be handled privately.
“What happened on the pitch will stay with the group. I don’t need to tell people what happened. I will keep that for the group and me. We will talk afterwards,” Chelle said.
The coach cautioned that maintaining focus and discipline was crucial as the tournament progresses. “We just won one game. If we want to be ambitious, we must keep the quality on the pitch. Positive dynamics can easily turn negative,” he added.
