Osimhen only African player in top 50 marketable athletes
CR7 absent, striker ranked higher than Haaland,
With a ranking of 44th, ahead of Manchester City's Erling Haaland, Victor Osimhen is the only African player to be included in Sports Pro's list of the Top 50 Most Marketable Athletes for 2024.
Osimhen outscored the Norwegian striker, who is ranked 45th, according to the US website's rankings, which were based on three factors: brand strength, total addressable market, and economics.
Haaland achieved 22.8, 17.73, and 23.49, respectively, for a total marketability score of 64.02, while Nigeria International scored 24.18 for brand strength, 26.94 for total addressable market, and 13.03 for economics.
The highest-ranked football player on the list is Vinicius Jr. of Real Madrid, who comes in second with 91.52 points, behind American gymnast Simone Biles.
Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi completes the top five with 89.67 points.
Other footballers ranked include PSG’s Neymar, Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham, Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford, and Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal. Portuguese icon Cristiano Ronaldo was notably absent from the rankings.
Osimhen’s high ranking comes despite his market value dropping by €35m in 2024, with Napoli also cutting his release clause from £113m to £63m after failing to secure a permanent move away from the club in the summer.
The 25-year-old is currently enjoying a purple patch at Turkish giants Galatasaray, where he is on a season-long loan. He recently broke the club’s seven-year record by recording six goal contributions in his first five league games—aa feat last achieved by Bafetimbi Gomis in 2014.
His impressive performances in Istanbul have attracted interest from several clubs, with Turkish media outlet Sozcu reporting that Galatasaray are preparing a €50m bid to sign him permanently in January, though this falls short of his €75m release clause.
Prior to joining Galatasaray, where he has made seven appearances and scored four goals and supplied four assists, the striker was linked to a move to Chelsea in August.
Although Osimhen has made it clear that he intends to stay with Galatasaray until the conclusion of the season, Saudi Pro League team Al Ahly is also keeping an eye on his status.
