The remarks follow the young striker's retort to the former Nigerian international's criticism of his bicycle kick attempts during Nigeria's second leg playoff against Ghana.
Ikpeba had criticized the 23-year-old on Supersport, saying, "Victor Osimhen is a good player but is not yet a finished article, forget he's playing for Napoli." Some of those crosses he could have controlled instead of attempting a bicycle kick. "He's still a young player, but I hope he can improve in Napoli and help the national team in the future." He must learn when to use the ball and when to use bicycle kicks."
However, Osimhen took a swipe at Victor Ikpeba while responding to a comment made by Super Falcons star Asisat Oshoala on a post on his Instagram page.
Oshoala had penned, “Werey dem say make u no dey do bicycle kick.”
The ex-Lille striker then responded, “I go continue dey do am, no be that pundit go tell me wetin to do. Agbaya“
During a recent appearance on Channels TV, Ikpeba addressed the issue again, saying he could be Osimhen's father and advising him to mature and humble himself.
He also advised the youngster to emulate the personalities of Liverpool stars such as Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah while focusing on his football career.
"I've seen the timeline of what happened; I can be Victor's father; I've seen Victor before; he's a very modest, good young man."
A lot of factors came into play, and players can sometimes make decisions based on emotions and respond, so I've really moved on."
Victor is one of those players who exudes personality. He still needs to mature; he isn't the finished product; he will be one of our top players in the future, but he must humble himself and try to learn.
"It's a learning process; he knows how long it took him to get to Napoli, so my only advice to him is to look at how Salah and Mane carry themselves and focus on his footballing career," he added.
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