There is no apology… Napoli releases official statement in response to controversy over ‘mocking Osimhen’ “There was no intention of ridicule at all”

Napoli released a statement clarifying the controversy over Victor Osimhen’s ridicule.

In the 2022-23 season, Napoli achieved a major achievement. Even before the opening, the possibility was low, but the upward trend from the opening was maintained steadily until the end of the season, and the Scudetto was achieved. With five games left until the end of the league, the championship was confirmed, and the schedule was able to end on a good note. This is the first Scudetto in 33 years since the 1989-90 season under Diego Maradona. Fans, players, and all officials were enthusiastic.

Many players contributed here. Hvicha Kvarachelia, who came over from Georgia, a football outskirt, and made a sensational performance; Victor Osimhen, who did not match the transfer fee for two seasons but established himself as the world’s best striker with a ‘career high’; went beyond Italy and into the world. Kim Min-jae, who has grown into the best center back. In addition, Stanislav Robotka and Giovanni di Lorenzo did their part.

At the center was Osimhen. After rising to prominence in the Belgian and French leagues, he came to Italy’s Serie A in 2020, earning a whopping 75 million euros (about 107 billion won). Osimhen, who received a lot of opportunities as well as a huge amount of money, played more than 60 games in two seasons after his transfer and led Napoli’s attack.

However, the performance was somehow lacking. Although he has scored in double-digit league scoring for two consecutive seasons, he has never been dominant. He wasn’t bad, but with so much money invested, Napoli expected more from him.

Then last season, he showed his potential. He has shown some disappointment over the past two years, and was evaluated as having a transfer fee that was too high compared to his performance. However, he has performed so well that it is no exaggeration to say that he is the best striker in the world, scoring 26 goals in the league in the 2022-23 season and becoming the top scorer. did. At the end of the season, he was named Serie A’s best striker.

Naturally, he received interest from many clubs. Manchester United, Newcastle United, Liverpool, and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), which are seeking to strengthen their attack, were mentioned as candidates.

Saudi Arabia, which showed active recruitment efforts during the summer transfer market, also expressed interest in Osimhen. Loïc Tanzi of French media ‘L’Equipe’ announced that Al Hilal, who failed to recruit Kylian Mbappe, will begin recruiting Osimhen.

Napoli’s position was, of course, ‘no sale’. He wanted to continue the trend in the new season, so he tried to protect key players such as Osimen and Kvarats Helia. As Kim Min-jae, the core of the defense, is expected to leave, the need to protect Osimhen has increased.

President Aurelio De Laurentiis revealed the amount needed to recruit Osimhen. It was an astronomical amount. It was like saying that they would not sell it. British media ‘Mirror’ reported, “Chairman De Laurentiis said that any club that wants to sign Osimhen this summer will have to pay 170 million pounds (about 280.5 billion won).”

Accordingly, Napoli attempted to renew Osimhen’s contract. The first meeting ended in failure, but Napoli steadily pursued a contract renewal. Although no ‘official’ has been released yet, many officials predicted that Osimhen will have a future with Napoli. Niccolo Skira, a leading Italian journalist, said on his social media, “The contract extension between Osimhen and Napoli is imminent. The contract period is until 2027. The basic annual salary is 6.5 million euros (approximately 9.2 billion won) and a bonus is included. A few days. “The meeting will take place within the day and the new contract will include a buyout clause,” he said.

So he remained in Naples in the new season. As Kim Min-jae was missing, his importance grew even more. And he has been performing accordingly to this day. In 7 games, including the cup competition, he scored 4 goals and is ranked 2nd in scoring.

However, ‘defending champion’ Napoli is struggling. Napoli, who won 3-1 in the league opener against Frosinone, got off to a good start with a 2-0 win against Sassuolo in the second round. However, in the subsequent games against Lazio and Genoa, they recorded 1 draw and 1 loss, failing to score any points and falling away from the top spot. Fortunately, they stopped their winless streak with a 2-1 win against Braga in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) group stage, and tried to continue this trend in the league.메이저사이트

Napoli met Bologna in the 5th round of the league. Given the difference in objective power, victory was expected. In fact, Naples had the upper hand in the game itself. According to soccer statistics media ‘WhoScored’, Napoli recorded 50.9% possession and attempted 12 shots in 90 minutes, putting pressure on Bologna. But no score was scored. Due to a lack of precision in finishing, no goal was scored, and ‘ace’ Osimhen suffered bad luck, including missing a penalty kick.

There was even a controversial scene. In the 41st minute of the second half, coach Rudy Garcia removed Osimhen and Stanislav Lobotka and brought in Giovanni Simeone and Jens Cayuste. But Osimhen did not like this decision. Osimhen shouted loudly at Coach Garcia as he left the stadium and made a ‘2’ gesture with his hand. Local sources predicted that Osimhen made this gesture because he judged that it would be more effective to deploy two attackers instead of leaving him out in situations where he needed to score.

A situation in which rumors of a discord between Osimhen and the director were raised. Coach Garcia later commented on the situation: “Missing a penalty kick happens even to the greatest players of all time. I spoke to him about the substitution. The conversation between me and him remains in the locker room. I am not satisfied with the players’ performance. “No. But we have a lot of players and we had to use them,” he said, trying to dismiss the rumors of discord.

It seemed like the incident was over. But later, a bigger controversy arose. This is because Napoli posted a video that seemed to mock Osimhen through their official account. In addition, the controversy grew further as a video suspected of racial discrimination was posted.

Many fans expressed their anger at the absurd situation in which the club mocked its own players. Osimhen’s agent was also very angry. According to European football transfer market expert Fabricio Romano, his agent Roberto Calenda said: “The problems that arose on Napoli’s official social media today are unacceptable. A video mocking Osimhen was posted and then deleted. It caused serious harm to the player. “We have the right to take all necessary actions, including legal action.”

Although he was caught up in an unpleasant incident, Osimhen showed a professional attitude. In the last match against Udinese, he started as a frontline striker and led the team to victory by scoring an additional goal in the 39th minute of the first half when the team was ahead 1-0.

However, my emotions did not completely improve. Osimhen did not have a clear celebration after scoring. Napoli colleagues approached him, but there was no change in his expression or behavior. He also did not take a penalty kick during the first goal, even though he is Napoli’s official penalty kick taker. This action received even more attention because it was right after the rumors of a feud.

As the situation became more serious, Napoli attempted to calm the controversy through an official statement. According to Romano, the official statement reads as follows:

“Napoli wishes to avoid any exploitation of this matter and would like to inform you that there was no intention to offend or ridicule Osimhen, who is a treasure of the club. As proof, during the summer training period, we made a statement regarding the transfer of Osimhen. All suggestions were flatly rejected. Social media, especially TikTok, has always used mild forms of language. There was absolutely no intention to ridicule Osimhen. In any case, if Osimhen felt offended, it was the club’s intention. “It shows that it wasn’t what they said.”

However, fans did not accept Napoli’s explanation. They just make excuses saying they didn’t intend to ridicule. This is because there was no message of apology to Osimhen. These negative comments include, “You never say you’re sorry,” “You refuse to apologize,” “Osimen is wasting his career,” and “Instead of saying you’re sorry, you’re only focused on defending yourself.” There was a reaction.

Meanwhile, rumors of Osimhen’s transfer, which had quieted down due to this incident, have surfaced once again. The British media ‘Daily Mail’ said, “After the TikTok video incident, Saudi clubs are planning to approach him to sign him during the January transfer window. Chelsea and Real Madrid are also keeping an eye on the situation.”