Osimhen must prove he's worth the effort in Napoli's tumultuous season
Following his sacking by Napoli on the eve of their last-16 Champions League tie, former Watford coach Walter Mazzarri said: “I was hoping to manage against Barcelona with Victor Osimhen on the pitch.”
The Nigeria striker is set to return against the Catalan giants at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday night. But Osimhen will soon be leaving Napoli as well with the only question being if the £110m-rated forward will go to the Premier League, Paris-Saint Germain or Saudi Arabia. Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United have all been linked with him while the French champions want a big-name replacement for Kylian Mbappe.
But the 25-year-old superstar, who beat Mo Salah to be named African Player of the Year, will continue to make headlines on and off the pitch wherever he goes.
The centre-forward scored 31 goals in 39 games last season to lead Napoli to their first scudetto since 1990. Osimhen , who still wears his trademark protective mask after fracturing his eye socket in November 2021, became the first African player to finish as Serie A’s top scorer.
Head coach Luciano Spalletti left last summer along with South Korean centre-back Kim Min-Jae - who joined Bayern Munich - but Osimhem confirmed he turned down a mega offer to go to Saudi Arabia to stay put in Naples.
Speaking to John Obi Mikel’s podcast in November last year, he said: “I had never thought about leaving but when the offer from Saudi Arabia came, it was difficult to refuse.
"Every time I said no, they increased the offer again and again. It was truly a sensational sum that would have changed my life, but in the end I told them: ‘No guys, I'm staying where I am’."
But Osimhen, 25, added his aim was to play in the Premier League. "I don't have a
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