The future of Napoli striker Victor Osimhen at the Serie A club seems more uncertain as there is no further development on a new contract.
This is coming after President Aurelio De Laurentiis dropped several hints the striker’s ‘mood has changed’ and made comparisons with Kalidou Koulibaly’s sale.
The Nigerian striker has been reportedly linked with several top clubs. Osimhen will be out of contract in June 2025 and has yet to agree a new deal.
According to reports, agent Roberto Calenda was spotted meeting with Napoli directors Maurizio Micheli and Mauro Meluso on Thursday morning.
The latest comment from De Laurentiis shows that things are not going well after they had seemed so close to an agreement over the summer.
Speaking further, the CEO noted that it takes two to tango as he remains the same way about the new proposal.
“If his mood has changed, then there’s not much I can do about that. If after a handshake things change, that is disappointing; we take it into account, but life goes on.”
He also pointed out that there’s a good rapport with the striker, and there’s still time to negotiate since there are two years left on his current deal.
De Laurentiis sanctioned the sale of Koulibaly to Chelsea when he was in the final months of his contract.
Osimhen, who was irritated by the TikTok videos that the official club website posted a few weeks ago, had removed all pictures related to the team on his social media page. The club has failed to apologize to him.
Meanwhile, Napoli are frustrated after Osimhen sustained another injury on international duty with Nigeria.
Laurentiis revealed that since 2013, Napoli have received a total of €4m in reimbursement for the participation of the club players in international games, despite the fact there were always at least ten players called up.
“This is no good. I think international duty should only be for players of a maximum of 22 years, so it gives them good practice and visibility. I also believe the clubs should be allowed to decide whether to release their players, especially if it is a friendly.
“If I paid €50m for a player and he returns injured, they ought to reimburse the club for the cost of every day he is out of action. Just think about Neymar,” explained De Laurentiis.
Neymar, who joined Al-Hilal this summer, is out for the season after a serious knee ligament injury sustained while playing for Brazil.
Written by Oladipupo Mojeed
