It is not easy to understand what is happening at Napoli. The silence of the club certainly doesn't help. But it is not certain that it will be maintained for too long. Probably, after having thought little, publishing on their social networks two absurd posts, the club is reasoning, this time seriously, about what to do.
We are referring, of course, to the Osimhen case which, in less than 24 hours, has diverted the attention to Napoli's Nigerian centre forward away from Rudi Garcia's future, which, for obvious reasons, has (at least momentarily) taken a back seat.
To recap. In a fit of madness, the Azzurri posted two videos on their TikTok profile about their top scorer of the last Serie A campaign.
And if in the first one irony was made about the missed penalty in Bologna, in the second one, Osi was likened to a coconut. And it is precisely on this second point that Napoli's intervention will have to be abrupt because from stupidity to racism, the line is often thin.
Not a few, in fact, have recalled the words of De Laurentiis (who is also under investigation for alleged irregularities in his recruitment) when, during one of his usual attacks of omnipotence, he assured that he would not allow his players to participate in the African Cup of Nations
And to say that immediately after the end of the match against Bologna, the Nigerian striker had apologised to his teammates for the reaction he had had at the moment of the substitution decided by Garcia to whom he had conveyed his message, with obvious gestures, that it would be opportune to try to win the match by playing the last minutes with two strikers.
It was of little use that the admin (or whoever) of the Neapolitan club realised immediately that he had made a very serious mistake, deleting the two videos which, however, had already gone viral. Offensively viral. So much so, in fact, that the person concerned deleted every reference to Napoli from his Instagram profile.
It is understandable as the club mocked the main architect on the pitch of the third Scudetto in the history of the Azzurri club. Not surprisingly, the response from the Nigerian's agent, Roberto Calenda, did not take too long to come in.
"What happened today on Napoli's official profile on the TikTok platform is not acceptable. A film mocking Victor was first made public and then, but now belatedly, deleted. A serious fact that creates a 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. We reserve the right to take legal action and any useful initiative to protect Victor Osimhen'.
And if Osimhen has not yet made any statement (limiting himself, as we said, to showing his opposition to what has happened by deleting Napoli from his social networks), his entourage has taken it upon themselves to shoot at the club's behaviour.
'I'm saying this as a journalist, I'm not speaking for him I'm just saying what is inevitable. Osimhen will leave as soon as possible, no team makes fun of its best player. However I don't think we're talking about racism and I don't think Napoli are, but it's a disgrace, unacceptable, a great lack of respect, it's ridiculous and it's a gross mistake. We are talking about the best striker in Italy, a candidate for the Ballon d'Or and the best player in Serie A,' assured journalist friend, Oma Akatugba.
At this point, after a summer spent rejecting all the offers that arrived for him, president De Laurentiis is called upon not only to bring the sporting situation back to normal, but also and above all to resolve the worst crisis Napoli has had to face since he has been there
It is certainly too early to assure - as Akatugba did before deleting the tweet - that Osimhen will leave soon. But what is certain is that if the explanations given to him do not convince him of the club's good faith, De Laurentiis is unlikely to keep him at the Maradona for long.
And this time, there will be no contract, because the footballer has the upper hand after all that has happened, with all the consequences.
