Napoli’s President Aurelio De Laurentiis has reiterated his desire to keep the core of the Serie A-winning team together, ruling out a potential summer move for Super Eagles Victor Osimhen.
Osimhen was one of the major drivers for Napoli’s first Serie A title since 1990 with his 22 goals powering the Partenopei to a historic victory, and his equaliser against Udinese clinching the much-anticipated victory for De Laurentis’ men.
The Nigerian forward has been in superb form in the 2022/23 campaign and has been courted by a number of clubs with hopes of agreeing to a deal for the 24-year-old striker, but after the Scudetto win was confirmed, Napoli President De Laurentis reiterated that he would not consider selling Osimhen as he intends to keep the winning team together.
Speaking on Italian radio station Rai 1, De Laurentiis was keen to impress that Napoli were looking to build on their Serie A success to assert further dominance in Italy, noting that despite interest from other quarters, they would need to keep their best hands to achieve that.
The film producer and club president confirmed that there had already been a decision to extend the contract of coach Luciano Spalletti, saying, “Spalletti is someone I had been chasing for years and finally I managed to bring him to Napoli. He got us back into Europe and now I would like to open up a new era with him, because he is a great leader.
“As for the contract, I already exercised the option that was in his contract. People don’t remain at Napoli just for an option, Luciano said he is in love with Naples. He is a hero here now and entered into history, so it’s only right that he enjoy it.”
When asked if he would consider offers from other teams for star forward Osimhen, De Laurentiis replied, “No, never!”
Whether the Napoli president will be able to turn a blind eye to a possible mouth-watering deal for Osimhen in the summer is yet to be determined, but so far, he appears keen to keep the Nigerian in the fold.
