Nigerians have expressed their frustration with Napoli after the club’s drastic actions against Victor Osimhen when the striker failed to secure a move away before the transfer window closed.
Osimhen was anticipated to leave Napoli after four years, but no agreement was reached before the 11 pm deadline last night.
According to Gianluca DiMarzio, Napoli derailed the deal with Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli by demanding an additional €5 million, despite a prior agreement of €75-80 million. As a result, the Jeddah-based club pulled out of the deal and quickly signed Brentford striker Ivan Toney for a reported £36 million.
After the window closed, Napoli excluded the Super Eagles striker from their squad list for the 2024/25 season and stripped him of his number 9 jersey. In response, Nigerians flooded Napoli’s social media pages with insults, particularly under the post announcing the signing of former Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour.
🔥 Run like Hell
Gilmour is in town 🎸⚽️
💙 #ProudToBeNapoli | #ForzaNapoliSempre | #WelcomeGilmour pic.twitter.com/YhYn6bj3pr
— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) August 31, 2024
_@kaymicky007 replied: ”OSIMHEN is bigger than Napoli. Yall can go trophyless this season and forever. Mid team like Napoli”
_@engrr_YK replied: ”Racist club and grossly overrated. We all know the reason Osimhen is being disrespected in such manner is because he is African.”
_@Mulla_bryte wrote: “Napoli has always treated their legend like trash … a club without class”
_@zeus_28 wrote: ”Another 33 years trophies less come for you @sscnapoli you shall never see good thing in your club✊🏾 after everything Victor Osimhen did for your club you try to treat him this way💔”