Victor Osimhen vs Gonçalo Ramos: Where Nigeria star ranks among Serie A’s most expensive transfers

Victor Osimhen is back in the conversation as the arrival of Gonçalo Ramos at AC Milan has once again drawn attention to the biggest transfer deals in Italian football history, Afrik-Foot reports.

Milan have agreed a club-record deal with Paris Saint-Germain for the Portuguese striker, but even that move does not push him ahead of Nigerian star Osimhen in the Serie A transfer rankings.

Osimhen remains the sixth-most expensive signing in Serie A history thanks to the €78.9 million deal that brought him from Lille OSC to SSC Napoli in the summer of 2020.

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Only five transfers in the history of Italian football have cost more. Remarkably, all five were completed by Juventus during their years as one of Europe’s biggest spenders.

The most expensive Serie A transfer remains Cristiano Ronaldo’s €117 million move from Real Madrid to Juventus in 2018. He is followed by Gonzalo Higuaín (€90m), Matthijs de Ligt (€85.5m), Dušan Vlahović (€85.4m) and Arthur Melo (€80.6m).

That leaves Man United-linked Osimhen in sixth place overall and still the most expensive player ever signed by a Serie A club outside Juventus.

Why Ramos’ Milan move does not overtake Victor Osimhen

Although Ramos has become Milan’s most expensive signing ever, the structure of his transfer means he still falls short of Victor Osimhen’s landmark move.

The deal is reported to contain a guaranteed fee of around €53-55 million, with the overall package potentially rising to between €70 million and €75 million through performance-related bonuses.

Even if every bonus is achieved, Ramos would still struggle to clearly surpass the €78.9 million Napoli paid for Osimhen six years ago.

That gap becomes even more significant when looking at the guaranteed money involved. Napoli committed almost €79 million up front for Osimhen, while Milan’s agreement relies heavily on future achievements, including difficult sporting targets.

Ramos’ transfer nevertheless rewrites Milan’s record books. The Portuguese striker moves ahead of Rafael Leão, whose €50 million arrival had previously stood as the club’s biggest purchase.

Just as Ramos now holds that distinction at Milan, Osimhen remains Napoli’s most expensive signing ever, a record that has survived despite several transfer windows.

Osimhen’s Napoli legacy justified the investment

When Napoli spent nearly €79 million on Osimhen in 2020, many observers questioned whether the Nigerian striker could justify such a huge fee. By the time he left Italy, he had done far more than that.

Osimhen became the face of Napoli’s modern golden era, helping the club win the 2022/23 Serie A title, their first league championship in 33 years and first since the days of Diego Maradona.

During that historic campaign, he scored 26 league goals to finish as Serie A’s top scorer and lead Napoli to one of the most memorable seasons in the club’s history.

His achievements went beyond trophies. Osimhen became the highest-scoring African player in Serie A history, broke long-standing records previously held by George Weah and Samuel Eto’o, and finished eighth in the 2023 Ballon d’Or rankings, the highest placement ever achieved by a Nigerian player.

Across all competitions, he scored 76 goals in 133 appearances for Napoli and helped restore the club to the top level of European football.

His eventual permanent move to Galatasaray for €75 million also made him one of the most valuable departures ever completed by a Serie A club.