Victor Osimhen of SSC Napoli during the Serie A TIM match between SSC Napoli and Udinese Calcio at … [+] Stadio Diego Armando Maradona Naples Italy on 27 September 2023. (Photo by Franco Romano/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty ImagesHow will the Victor Osimhen story end at Napoli?
Many have been posing that question since those videos became public knowledge earlier this week. Aside from the fact that the videos in question were of remarkably bad taste and done to appeal to the no doubt small fraction of the Napoli fan base who uses the TikTok platform, the pair of videos has only antagonised one of the club’s star players, and could drive a wedge so deep that Osimhen could decide his days in Naples are coming to an end.
For a country that continues to score spectacular own goals when it comes to fighting racism within football, Napoli’s self-sabotage here is almost unparalleled. Comparing Osimhen to a coconut for missing a penalty against Bologna, while clearly not intentional, has racial elements to it. Moreover, the fact that the videos were signed off by Napoli’s social media department is astounding in and of itself, who really thought the pair of videos would garner the kind of feedback they desired? They got the eyeballs they wanted, but for all the wrong reasons.
Osimhen scored in the 4-1 win against Udinese on Wednesday while in the eye of the storm, but his celebration was more reserved than normal, less flamboyant and more muted. His agent, Roberto Calenda, has threatened to sue Napoli for damage to the player’s image, it all makes for a scarcely believable story.
Napoli’s statement, which went insofar as not to apologise to one of their star men, has also compounded the issue, and the question remains whether the 24-year-old will remain at Napoli come January. He’s already being linked with clubs in Saudi Arabia, not to mention Real Madrid and of course Chelsea who, as most know, have been frugal the past year and not signed many players.
Can the broken bridge between Osimhen and Napoli be repaired? Contract talks over the summer stalled, with it being reported that the player and his agent wanted the release clause lowered to a more reasonable €150m ($158m) than the figure Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis demanded be inserted into the contract. It was then believed that a deal was close to being sealed, with Osimhen going to be earning around €10m-per-season at Napoli. Yet the new extension was never signed, and with his contract expiring in the summer of 2025, Napoli are losing control of potentially selling the Nigerian striker for his true amount.
The events of this week have only muddied those waters even still. Osimhen had been subject of a mega offer from Saudi Arabia in the summer, but Napoli rejected it out of hand (a point they made in their hollow statement this week, sans apology). It’s more than likely that clubs from the Middle Kingdom will return for him, but it remains to be seen whether the player would, in the form of his life and at the pinnacle of his career, swap Serie A for the Saudi Pro League.
What is abundantly clear is that Napoli’s chances of keeping Osimhen appear rather slim after the events of this week. The January transfer window is still a full three months away, and Osimhen will no doubt be a professional and continue to give his all for Napoli on the pitch, yet that doesn’t mean the wheels won’t be churning in the background, securing the player a move away from a club that deemed it logical to mock him so publicly for laughs on a social media platform targeted at teenagers.
Should Napoli want to keep him, Osimhen can now effectively name his price and, if Napoli baulk, he can walk away, with fans knowing that it was the club who did him wrong, and not the other way around.
It would be a shame to see a talent like Osimhen leave both Naples and Serie A, yet if he does so, one could hardly blame him.