New Delhi: Napoli has benched Victor Osimhen after the team he led to Serie A championship little over a year ago dropped him off their roster for the 2024–2025 season and maybe indefinitely. Osimhen, a forward from Nigeria, turned into a hero in Naples when Napoli stormed to their first Scudetto since 1990 with 26 goals in the league. Osimhen became one of the most sought-after attackers in the world after a prolific season.
However, the 25-year-old is now an outcast in southern Italy, as Romelu Lukaku, a recent newcomer, has seized Osimhen’s spot and jersey number nine. Osimhen has been pushing for a transfer from Napoli since the team virtually instantly fell apart following their third league title. There was a huge impact, resulted with the departure of sports director Cristiano Giuntoli, who assembled one of Napoli’s strongest lineup since Maradona, and title-winning coach Luciano Spalletti.
Despite having three different managers during the previous season and finishing in 10th place in Serie A, Osimhen scored 17 goals in 32 appearances in all competitions for Napoli. When Osimhen’s contract was renewed in December, Napoli included a 130 million euro release clause, and it appeared as though they would cash in this summer.
🚨⛔️ Napoli have officially excluded Victor Osimhen from their Serie A squad list for the season!
Osimhen and Mario Rui are both OUT as Napoli consider them out of the project.
Relationship broken with both players… they also want to leave but on their terms. pic.twitter.com/bLDYkm6RQy
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 31, 2024
The agreement, which paid Osimhen an astounding 11 million euros in declared net pay, ends at the end of June 2026. However, none of Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, or Al-Alhi, a Saudi Pro League team, have even approached the possibility of reaching Osimhen’s pay demands in addition to Napoli’s value.
As the Saudi Arabian transfer market ends on Monday, Osimhen may still be able to leave Napoli, but Italian media reports that Al-Alhi merely made an offer of 70 million euros for the midfielder. Al-Alhi purchased England center-forward Ivan Toney from Brentford for a far lesser price than what was demanded for Osimhen after failing to reach an agreement with Napoli.
Victor Osimhen of Napoli and Antonio Conte are participating in day 14 of the preseason training camp of SSC Napoli at Stadio Patini in Castel di Sangro, Italy, on August 2, 2024. (Photo by Ciro De Luca/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Back in July, Conte stated that Osimhen was behaving “professionally” in spite of the speculation that he was about to go from the team he helped lead to the pinnacle of Italian football. However, as Napoli attempt to recover from a terrible previous season, the striker must confront the hitherto unimaginable possibility of practicing apart from his colleagues and not playing club football until at least January. Lukaku, Napoli’s new star striker, is expected to play at least a little role in their match against Parma on Saturday at the Stadio Maradona while Osimhen stays in his golden cage.
The Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen has been excluded from the 2024/25 squad after his failed transfer to Chelsea. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
