Last year was a dream season for Napoli, as they won the Scudetto for the third-time ever. The new season has not been so kind however, with two wins from five matches, and to make things, the club is engulfed in a row with star striker Victor Osimhen over bizarre videos posted to their tik tok account.
Osimhen was Italy's leading scorer last year, and was being pursued heavily by some of the Premier League's biggest clubs during the summer. His future with the club is no uncertain after a blunder of epic proportions from the clubs social media admin.
Here's an explainer on the controversy and where it might leave one of the world's best young strikers.
Napoli tik tok videos on Victor Osimhen
The official club TikTok account has posted two videos in the past 3 days which have since been deleted. They are, to put it mildly, quite strange. The first one - I'm A Coconut' posted was a few days ago
Napoli are being criticised, after their TikTok account posted a video mocking Victor Osimhen for missing a penalty.
Napoli's TikTok account also posted a video mocking him,and tagging a coconut 3 days before that.
Osimhen has deleted Napoli related pictures from his Instagram. pic.twitter.com/iVVaQfXiHb— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) September 27, 2023
Three days later another video was posted in the after math of a frustrating 0-0 draw away to Bologna, a club which finished 9th last year as Napoli powered their way to the title.
Osimhen had a frustrating night with a missed penalty and then what appeared to be some choice words for his manager, Rudi Garcia, as he was subbed off.
The club's tik tok account had a laugh at Osimhen's expense by sharing footage of the miss, remixed with the 'Pessi Penalty' song.
🇳🇬 This was the original video posted by Napoli about Victor Osimhen… and then deleted.
⚠️ …player’s agent Calenda announced that Osimhen is considering to take legal action against Napoli. pic.twitter.com/0PLunco9aD— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 26, 2023
The videos have not gone down well, and captured the dissonance between people who get their news from tik tok and the rest of the world.
Osimhen v Napoli
Osimhen has not taken kindly to the two videos. According to Fabrizio Romano, Osimhen's agent Roberto Calenda is intent on bringing legal action against the club.
He's quoted as saying:
What happened today on Napoli's official profile on the TikTok platform is not acceptable. A video mocking Victor was first made public and then, but now belatedly, deleted. A serious fact that causes 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.
Many have wondered is there is a racist undertone to the coconut tik tok. The video is a reference to a statement from Osimhen in 2019 where he said he had a 'coconut head' on Twitter.
On Wednesday, Osimhen scrubbed his socials of any reference to Napoli, and deleted all photos of him in the Napoli kit.
Napoli host Festy Ebosele's Udinese tonight at the Maradona stadium. It appears he'll be available for selection.
#Osimhen arriva all’Hotel Serapide. Saluta Santoro, ma snobba #Demme e #Zielinski. La faccia del Team Manager la dice lunga. Video: Enzo Buono.#Napoli pic.twitter.com/dInBTqvIU8
— Gennaro Del Vecchio (@GennyDelVe) September 27, 2023
More news as we get it. At 24 years of age and already a player who has been sought after by Manchester United and Chelsea in the last few months. Osimhen's potential availability will be huge news for clubs in need of a proven goalscorer.
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