Conte confirms NO WAY BACK for Victor Osimhen - Romano

Muhammad Butt

Updated: 1 Sept 2024 09:24 BST
3 min read

Antonio Conte has issued a statement to confirm the future of his Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen.

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When asked if Victor Osimhen could come back into the Napoli squad, Fabrizio Romano reports on X that Conte said: "NO player will be reintegrated."

"Those who are out of the project will remain out of the project," Conte continued; "We made our choices and work in one direction all together."

This brutally harsh stance comes just one 24 hours after the closing of the summer transfer window in Europe and confirms that there is no way back for Osimhen.

For most all of the summer, Victor Osimhen was the subject of transfer bids from various clubs. Chief among them were Chelsea, Paris Saint-German, and Al-Ahli.

All of the moves fell through for different reasons, and Napoli decided to "punish" Osimhen for his desire to leave by exiling him from their Serie A squad for the season.

Lukaku takes Osimhen's number 9?

It was rumoured that, in addition to exiling him from their Serie A squad, Napoli had also stripped him of his shirt number and given it to new signing Romelu Lukaku.

© IMAGO - Romelu Lukaku scored on his Napoli debut.

However, as seen on Saturday night when Napoli came from behind to beat Parma in stoppage time, Romelu Lukaku was wearing no. 11.

So while Osimhen still technically "has" his no. 9 shirt, Lukaku scored a crucial equaliser on his Serie A debut with Gli Azzurri and they went on to win the game with a header from Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa.

And with fellow new signings Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour ready to make their debuts at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, it really does seem like Napoli have moved on from Victor Osimhen, making Conte's words all the more chilling from the Nigerian's perspective.

With the major European transfer windows shut and Al-Ahli signing Ivan Toney to fill their striker spot, the next few days will be frantically filled with Osimhen and his representatives trying to organise a move away from Naples, so that the reigning African Footballer of the Year isn't left sitting in the stands playing no football until 2025.