27 September 2023 , 15:35
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In an era when No9s are at a premium and academies across Europe worry about the lack of natural goalscorers emerging, Victor Osimhen should be his club’s most cherished asset.
For Napoli he has become anything but, epitomised by their baffling decision to last night post a clip to their 4.5m followers on TikTok that was distasteful and offensive. In the now-deleted video a high-pitched voice is dubbed over footage of Osimhen asking for a penalty that he subsequently missed against Bologna last weekend.
Yet there was a far more offensive video, also deleted, published three days earlier by the club’s official page that appeared to have serious racist connotations as it referred to the Nigeria star as a “coconut.”
Osimhen's agent, Roberto Calenda, has said his player reserves “the right to take legal action” and called the video “not acceptable” because it “causes very serious damage to the player and adds to the treatment that the boy is suffering in the last period between media trials and fake news.”
Italian football’s racism problems are well-founded and run deep. Not a season seems to go by where a black footballer is not abused for the colour of his skin. Ask Romelu Lukaku and Mario Balotelli, two other supremely talented goalscorers, or defenders Kalidou Koulibaly and Samuel Umtiti, who have endured cascades of abuse from ultras of rival clubs.
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Serie A, with the exception of occasional statements saying it condemns the use of discriminatory language, has been accused of burying its head and academic research published last year said black players in Italy were more likely to be shown yellow cards by referees.
But for a club to go after one of its own players, regardless of what is going on behind the scenes amid a contract dispute and disagreement with the new head coach, is so much further below the pale than fans immersed in a herd mentality behaving appallingly from the stands.
Without Osimhen there would have been no Scudetto for Napoli last season and this insulting act of cheap social media trolling will now reduce the transfer fee they can hold out for in the next 12 months.
Victor Osimhen argues with Napoli boss Rudi Garcia (Getty Images)The animosity stems from his decision to not sign a new contract in the summer, at a time when he was being linked with moves to a number of European giants. That is entirely his prerogative and, like any club in such a situation, there is not much Napoli can do.
Yet the Naples club, who have not commented on the offensive videos, are shooting themselves in the foot. At 24 and based on recent transfers, Osimhen should be a £100m player. But every club in the world will be aware of the discord at Napoli and suitors can now knock a chunk off the asking price.
There is already talk of him moving away on loan in January with the relationship between player and club potentially untenable. But Osimhen has been named in the squad to face Udinese this evening and if he plays, which would be another remarkable twist, a decisive goal would be the sweetest silencer possible.