Pressure piles on Osimhen as Napoli relegates him to U23

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Pressure have continued to pile on the Nigerian international striker, Victor Osimhen, as Napoli Football Club reportedly relegated him to their U23 squad.

This is happening after the player’s transfer failed to meet the deadline as he insisted on leaving the club ahead of the summer transfer window.

Osimhen had been linked with several top European clubs, including PSG, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Saudi Arabian side, Al-Ahli, but discussions with Napoli failed, due essentially to the club’s tough position on his transfer.

Despite Chelsea’s last-minute attempts and Al-Ahli’s negotiations, the Super Eagles forward remains at Napoli, leaving his future in limbo as the Saudi Arabian transfer window closes on Monday.

Osimhen’s frustrations with the situation led him to inform Napoli’s management that he no longer wishes to play for the first team.

Consequent upon this position, the club initially stripped him of his iconic number 9 jersey, handing it over to newly signed Romelu Lukaku, who recently joined the club from Chelsea.

But in a surprising reversal just hours later, Napoli decided to reassign Lukaku the number 11 jersey, allowing Osimhen to retain his number 9. Despite this concession, the Nigerian striker remains unregistered for the 2024/25 Serie A season, further complicating his position at the club.

Osimhen had been a key player for Napoli since joining in 2020, taking over the number 9 jersey from Fernando Llorente. The decision to relegate Osimhen to the U23 squad has raised eyebrows in the football community and sparked a wave of support from fellow players.

Former Super Eagles striker, Odion Ighalo, took to social media to defend Osimhen, criticizing the harsh judgments from some Nigerian fans.

According to Ighalo, “No human being is perfect and we have all made mistakes in life, but seeing comments about this young man from his own country people makes me really sad, without even knowing what happened.”

Ighalo added on X that he had spoken with Osimhen and could sense the pain in his voice, urging fans to support the player during this challenging time.

Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa also voiced his support for Osimhen, encouraging him to stay focused on his goals.

“I know you to be a fighter. We all came from having almost nothing to becoming who we are today. Eyes on the prize, focus on your end goal. I believe in you, champ,” Musa wrote on X.

As the future for Osimhen at Napoli remains uncertain, the football world continues to review the situation with him in the U23 team.

Whether he will reintegrate into the first team or seek an exit in the next transfer window remains to be seen, but the support from his peers suggests that the young striker has the resilience to overcome this setback.