Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has revealed that contract talks with Victor Osimhen are at a standstill, suggesting the striker could leave.

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• Osimhen in talks over new deal
• Club upset striker on social media
• President hints he could be sold

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Serie A side had been in talks with the Nigerian star over a new deal as they look to fight off interest from across Europe for his signature. The 24-year-old is tied to Napoli until 2025, but with the likes of Chelsea, Real Madrid and some Saudi Arabian clubs, among others, said to be after him, the Italians hope to ensure he remains for the long term.

  Napoli insisted that they did not intend to upset their star man with the social media posts and then De Laurentiis said the incident had not disrupted their contract negotiations.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The relationship between Napoli and Osimhen appeared to sour this season, however, as the club's TikTok account shared videos poking fun at the attacker. Osimhen's agent threatened legal action against the club for the posts and the player ended up deleting any presence of Napoli from his Instagram account.

  Napoli insisted that they did not mean to upset their star man and then De Laurentiis maintained that the incident had not disrupted their contract talks.

• WHAT THEY SAID

  The situation appears to have changed, however, as De Laurentiis suggested at a press conference that he could be end up being sold just like defender Kalidou Koulibaly.

  He said at a press conference: "I have never not been calm when it comes to Osimhen, but it takes two to tango. I remain the same, if his mood has changed, then there’s not much I can do about that. If after a handshake things change, that is disappointing, we take it into account, but life goes on. We have a good rapport with him, the contract runs to 2025, so there is time. Don’t forget I sold Koulibaly at the last minute.”

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  WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

  Osimhen suffered an injury while on international duty with Nigeria and will miss Napoli's Serie A match against Hellas Verona. He could be out for up to a month.

Tags: Futebol
Category: News