Napoli and Victor Osimhen are together again ahead of Sunday’s visit to Fiorentina after a row that threatened to further complicate a faltering title defence was smoothed over by the Nigerian striker.
Outraged by Napoli for the club’s official TikTok account mocking his penalty miss at Bologna a week ago, Osimhen’s agent Roberto Calenda threatened legal action and Nigeria’s sports minister even got involved in the spat, using diplomatic channels to defend his countryman.
However, strikes in subsequent four-goal thumpings by Udinese and Lecce steadied the rocking ship and placed Napoli in third place, four points behind joint leaders Inter Milan and AC Milan.
They were also followed by Osimhen defending Napoli supporters from accusations of racism which stung a fan base which has little to no history of racist acts and is a frequent target of abuse from other areas of Italy, in particular the wealthier north.
Napoli’s renewed enthusiasm could be seen on Tuesday night after an unlucky defeat by Real Madrid showed Rudi Garcia’s were a match for Europe’s best, as Naples worried about a series of earthquakes in the volcanic Campi Flegrei area just west of the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
And after the loss, president Aurelio De Laurentiis said that there were “no problems” with a long-mooted contract extension until 2027, which Osimhen still hasn’t signed.
“Everyone is always happy at Napoli. They (players) have problems when they leave because they lose their way,” he told the Spanish TV programme El Chiringuito.
This sudden burst of apparent harmony will carry Napoli into a weekend in which early title favourites Inter host Bologna and Milan are at Genoa, who have settled well back into Serie A football.
De Laurentiis insisted that he wants Napoli to defend their title and challenge for the Champions League despite letting Scudetto-winning coach Luciano Spalletti leave for the Italian national team and selling Kim Min-jae to Bayern Munich.
Sunday’s match will be a tough test as Napoli are level on 14 points with Fiorentina, who have had a promising start to the season but take on Ferencvaros in the Conference League on Thursday night.
Also on 14 points are fourth-placed Juventus, who host the first Turin derby of the season on Saturday evening, sweating on the fitness of strikers Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik.
Neither featured in Juve’s goalless draw at Atalanta on Sunday and coach Massimiliano Allegri will be hoping to have at least one of them fit enough to partner Federico Chiesa.
Meanwhile, Paul Pogba awaits the results of the ‘B’ sample of the doping test which could potentially ruin the France midfielder’s career after over a year of injuries and off-pitch travails since returning to Juve.
A positive result on Thursday — which is extremely likely — could for Pogba mean a four-year ban from football and as a result his contract with Juve being rescinded.
Player to watch – Federico Chiesa
Italy forward Chiesa has had a positive start to the season, featuring in each of Juve’s seven league matches and netting four times in his new role as centre-forward.
Previously deployed by Juve as a wide attacker, Chiesa will want to get through the weekend unscathed and impress enough to earn his first international cap under new Azzurri coach Luciano Spalletti.
The 25-year-old was selected in Spalletti’s squad for last month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers with North Macedonia and Ukraine but had to drop out injured, and will be in contention for a starting place with Italy against Malta and Group C leaders England should he stay fit.
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