Response to Osimhen from the Napoli camp

Following the striking statements made by Victor Osimhen at the beginning of the season, Napoli's former sporting director Mauro Meluso spoke to the Italian media, commenting on both the crisis that occurred and the player's allegations.

The Nigerian star striker had made serious claims regarding the Napoli management in a statement made before the Juventus match. Osimhen had expressed his discomfort, stating, "We had a gentleman's agreement that I could leave during the summer break, but the other side did not fully keep their word. They tried to send me everywhere, they treated me like a dog. Go here, go there, do this, do that... I worked hard to advance my career, I could not accept this kind of treatment. I am not a puppet."

In his assessment of these words, Meluso stated that the expressions used by Osimhen constituted a linguistic difference, saying, "After listening to the interview where Osimhen spoke in English, I heard him say that he was treated like a dog. However, a linguistic distinction needs to be made here, because he meant that Napoli wanted to sell him to other clubs. In Italian, we use this terminology for something much more aggressive and harsh."

Osimhen's public post regarding his discomfort with a video shared by the Napoli management about him on social media had also created a stir. Following the video published on TikTok, the Nigerian footballer had stated, "I feel sorry for the fans, especially because I haven't spoken about what happened. Some came to my house to ask for an explanation. We talked and I asked them to put themselves in my shoes. After Napoli posted that video on TikTok, something was definitely broken. Everyone can miss a penalty, everyone can be mocked for it. Napoli did this only to me, and with certain implications. I was a victim of racist insults and I made my decision, I wanted to leave. I deleted my photos taken in a Napoli jersey from my Instagram account, and they used this opportunity to provoke the fans against me, and to think that my daughter is more Neapolitan than Nigerian for me."

In response to these allegations, Meluso commented, "As for the TikTok video, I remember that Nicola Lombardo and I calmed Osimhen down; he was very angry the day after the video was posted. We were accused of racism, but there was no situation of targeting one of our players; it was just a bit of irony. Osimhen took it very badly, but anyone who dares to use racist language gets into trouble. Napoli hates all forms of racism. And so do the people of the city."

Although the waters seem to have calmed in the Napoli camp following Osimhen's departure from the team, the words he expressed and the mutual statements continue to be debated in the football community.