Rafiu Durosinmi: One key aspect Genk striker could edge Victor Osimhen

Super Eagles striker Rafiu Durosinmi has made a stunning start to life at KRC Genk since his record €10.5m move from Pisa this summer, scoring five goals in six Belgian Pro League appearances, Afrik Foot reports.

The 23-year-old has announced himself to Belgian football with a combination of penalty composure and aerial dominance that has left coaches, opponents and his own teammates reaching for very flattering comparisons.

KAA Gent coach Rik De Mil was in awe at the Cegeka Arena after Durosinmi headed a corner from Junya Ito into the net, pulling the striker aside to congratulate him and jokingly asking him not to score against Gent next time.

It was a gesture of respect from an opponent who had just witnessed something special.

Genk paid a record fee for a player they identified not only as a goalscorer but as a striker who makes those around him better. Five goals from six matches has led coach Jess Thorup to highlight the striker’s strengths.

“He mainly makes a difference with his timing,” Thorup said in quotes revealed by Het Belang van Limburg.

“More than with his length. He can also do more than just head and score.

“We’re also going to see assists from him because he knows how to set the ball ready for others.”

The Durosinmi-Osimhen comparison

The Osimhen comparison came from Tosin Dosunmu, Durosinmi’s broker, a former right-winger who played in Belgium for Westerlo, Beerschot and Antwerp, and therefore has both the football intelligence to make the comparison.

“Rafiu sometimes reminds me of Victor Osimhen,” Dosunmu said, “with the difference that he is really very strong with his head.”

The qualifier is as important as the comparison itself. Dosunmu is saying Durosinmi shares Osimhen’s physical presence, his intensity and relentless desire to score, while possessing a specific aerial quality that could make him edge the Galatasaray striker in the heading department.

He added that Durosinmi is not yet at his peak, and that his relationships with teammates are still developing.

Teammate Josue Kongolo provided the most colourful endorsement of the striker’s physical authority.

“I love being on the team with him, but I hate him at training when I have to defend against him.

“Especially in the air, there’s no point. Then I push him with both hands on the side. At training, that’s possible,” Kongolo said with a wink.

One key aspect Rafiu Durosinmi could edge Osimhen

The aspect is heading, and the argument deserves to be taken seriously rather than dismissed as a surface-level comparison between two tall Nigerian forwards.

Osimhen is one of the most complete centre-forwards in world football, if not the most complete.

His explosive pace, movement in behind defensive lines, pressing intensity and ability to score in a variety of ways have made him Nigeria’s greatest striker since Rashidi Yekini and one of the most coveted attackers in European football, and standing at 1.86m, he’s a brilliant header of the ball.

Durosinmi, at 1.92 metres, is taller than Osimhen and has the potential to edge the former Napoli striker in that department; something he’s already working on.

“It’s part of my instincts,” he explained.

“What I do is always look at the ball. Based on the course of the pass, I try to calculate where the ball will end up.

“That’s how I choose my position. I’ve been focusing on that from an early age.”

He continues to work on it specifically during and after training, regularly asking defenders and wingers to deliver crosses so he can sharpen his timing and movement.

Three of his five Genk goals have come from headers, and Thorup has already identified this as a tactical weapon to be deployed deliberately at set-pieces, with assistant Peter Balette tasked with designing corner and free-kick routines specifically to exploit Durosinmi’s movement and timing in the box.