‘He will win more CAF Awards!’ – Emmanuel Adebayor happy to mentor Victor Osimhen

Former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor has revealed that he felt emotional when Victor Osimhen honored him during his speech at the CAF Awards Gala.

The 25-year-old is recently crowned African Player of the Year, becoming the first Nigerian to win the award since Kanu Nwankwo 24 years ago.

The Super Eagles striker led Napoli to its first Serie A title in over 30 years, with his 26 league goals becoming the first African to be named best striker in Serie A’s 125-year-old history. He also scored five goals to help Napoli to its first-ever Champions League quarterfinals.

The former Lille player also clinched the 8th spot of the Ballon d’Or rankings making history as the first Nigerian in the top ten, breaking Nwankwo Kanu’s 11th position record in 1997.

In his acceptance speech, Osimhen mentioned Adebayor among the players who played a part in his success story, which meant a lot to the former Togo captain, who is convinced that there is more to come from the Napoli star.

“I started talking to him (Osimhen) one or two years (ago),” Adebayor told the BBC.

“Every time I talk to him, it’s about encouragement, and I tell him what to do and what not to do. I didn’t even know that he was listening.

“To come on a bigger stage like the CAF awards, the Ballon d’Or of Africa, and mention my name, and thank me for the encouragement… to be honest with you, I got emotional.

“And I’m a guy that doesn’t get emotional at all. But there, I didn’t have a choice. It was even more beautiful than when I won it myself. To be honest with you, this is how big it was.

“This will stay with me for life. If he continues in this stride, he will win more CAF awards in the future.”