By our reporter 17.2.2026
Nigeria and Galatasaray top striker Victor Osimhen said he could have been playing his football in Italy with Juventus but for the treatment meted out to him by former club Napoli.
Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, Osimhen revealed that Juventus wanted his services before he signed for Turkish side Galatasaray, but Napoli’s president Aurelio De Laurentiis, blocked the move.
“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,” Osimhen said.
” 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.”
He said his relationship with Napoli turned sour after the club’s president posted a video mocking him for missing a penalty in September 2023.
“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.
“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.
On signing a contract extension with Napoli even when their relationship was on thin ice Osimhen added: “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.”
He noted that Antonio Conte wanted him to stay. 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.”