Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen has said that Napoli treated him like a dog prior to his 2024 exit. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, his relationship with the Italian giant broke after the racist video the club uploaded on TikTok, and he still has not received any apology for the shocking incident.
Osimhen added that while he feels very sorry for Napoli fans, they must put themselves in his shoes.
His words, “I could have been in two other top Serie A clubs today. [Ex-Juventus director] Giuntoli called me to take me to Juve before negotiations with Galatasaray began. I spoke with a couple of people from the club. They showed interest, but I knew that he [Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis] wouldn’t let me leave. In any case, the interest was definitely there. And when Juventus call, regardless of everything, you sit down and listen.
I feel sorry for the fans, also because I never spoke about what happened before. Some of them even came to my house asking for an explanation. I asked them to put themselves in my shoes. After Napoli posted that video on TikTok, something broke.
Anyone can miss a penalty, and anyone can be mocked for it. Napoli did it only to me, and with certain kinds of insinuations as well. I was the victim of racist insults, and I made my decision. I wanted to leave. I deleted the photos of me wearing the Napoli shirt from my Instagram, and they took the opportunity to turn the fans against me. And to think that, for me, my daughter is more Neapolitan than Nigerian.
No one ever publicly apologised for what happened. After that famous video, Edoardo De Laurentiis called me several times. That’s it. Meanwhile, rumours were going around that I arrived late at training, and that I argued with team-mates. They’re all lies. I’m sorry for the fans, but I understand and admire them: they support the club, no matter what. For them, Napoli comes before everything.
We had a gentleman’s agreement according to which I could leave the following summer, but the commitment was not fully respected on the other side. They tried to send me anywhere to play, but they treated me like a dog. Go here, go there, do this, do that. I worked so hard to build my career, and I couldn’t accept that kind of treatment. I’m not a puppet.
Of course, even if some people said Conte didn’t want me. Are we serious? Which coach at that moment wouldn’t have wanted me? As soon as he arrived, Conte called me into his office and said he was aware of the situation but that, despite everything, he wanted me to stay.
I said I would have liked to work with him, but then I had made my decision: I didn’t want to keep working in a place where I didn’t feel happy.”
WOW.
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