Nigerian striker and Napoli forward, Victor Osimhen would not renew his contract with the Italian club and would be seeking an exit as soon as possible, a friend of the player has claimed.
Amidst the fallout between Osimhen and Napoli this season, his friend and journalist, Oma Akatugba has claimed the player would be looking at continuing his footballing career with another club.
Naija News recalls last season, Osimhen powered Napoli to their first Scudetto title in over three decades scoring a staggering 26 goals and finishing as the league’s top scorer.
However, the player has struggled for goals this season and in his club’s game against Bologna on Sunday, he missed a penalty with the game eventually ending in a 0-0 draw.
Following the penalty miss, the Italian club posted a controversial video (but later deleted) “mocking” him on their official TikTok account which sparked outrage from the player’s supporters.
Most recently, he deleted all pictures relating to Napoli from his Instagram account and upon arrival at the team’s hotel on Wednesday, 27th September for his team’s mid-week Serie A game against Udinese at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Osimhen was captured snubbing his teammates Diego Demme and Piotr Zieliński who extended his hands to shake the Nigerian star.
Speaking on the developments, Akatugba said that the 24-year-old is now keen on leaving due to feeling disrespected but the journalist was quick to add however that it is his personal opinion and not as a representative of the player.
“It’s incredible that your club’s official account makes fun of you for a missed penalty,” Akatugba told Sport Mediaset.
“Now what are the consequences? That Napoli will lose Victor Osimhen.
“He will not renew his contract and will want to leave as soon as possible.
“I say this as a journalist, I don’t speak for him; I only say what is inevitable. Osimhen will leave as soon as possible. No team makes fun of its best player.
“I don’t believe that we are talking about racism and I don’t believe that Napoli are, but it is a shame, unacceptable, a great lack of respect, ridiculous, and it is a gross mistake.
“We are talking about the best striker in Italy, candidate for the Ballon d’Or and the best player in Serie A.”