Napoli have revealed that Victor Osimhen trained separately on Friday due to a muscle injury suffered on Tuesday in a Champions League game against Barcelona and is set to miss their next game, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Osimhen risks missing Sunday’s Serie A meeting between Napoli and Inter at San Siro due to the muscle injury.
The Partenopei said in an official statement on Friday that their star striker had been training separately in the morning due to muscle fatigue from Tuesday’s game against Barcelona.
According to Sky Sport Italia, Osimhen currently faces a risk of missing the upcoming away game at San Siro.
The Nigeria international has not hit the same numbers as last season when he won the Serie A topscorer award but he has contributed with 13 goals in 24 appearances across all competitions this season after missing two months with injury and international action during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Napoli currently sit 7th in the Serie A table, seven points below 4th-placed Bologna.
They were eliminated in the Champions League Round of 16 by Barcelona earlier this week and have won just two games in the last five in Serie A.
Osimhen was criticised by Fabio Capello and the Italian media in the wake of Napoli’s 3-1 loss against Barcelona.
The 25-year-old failed to make a key impact for Napoli and was isolated in attack, managing only one shot across the 90 minutes and winning just one of his attempted 10 duels as he was flagged six times (three in the first 21 minutes) in the first half.
But former Juventus captain and Italy forward Del Piero feels Osimhen showed a positive attitude against the La Liga giants.
“He put in maximum commitment even if being flagged offside so many times is a little bit excessive,” Del Piero told Sky Sport Italia.
“Of course, when you play badly in an important match, you are slightly down, but Osimhen’s qualities can’t be questioned. Napoli has had a negative season, so you don’t always face what happens with a smile. However, Osimhen’s attitude was always positive.”
Osimhen has recently signed a contract extension until 2026 but has a €130m clause in his new deal with the Partenopei. He is expected to leave the Italian champions this summer with Arsenal, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain all credited with an interest.
