They treated me like a dog – Osimhen opens up on his time at Napoli

Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen has launched a scathing attack on his former club Napoli, accusing them of treating him “like a dog” and revealing that Juventus had tried to sign him.

Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport ahead of a Champions League playoff, the Nigerian international opened up about his tumultuous final months in Naples.

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Osimhen detailed how a controversial video posted on Napoli’s official TikTok account in September 2023, which mocked him for a missed penalty against Bologna, was the breaking point. “After Napoli posted that video on TikTok, something definitely broke,” he stated.

“Anyone can miss a penalty, anyone can be ridiculed. Napoli only did it to me, and with certain insinuations,” Osimhen explained.

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“I was the victim of racist insults and I made a decision: I wanted to leave. I deleted the photos of myself in a Napoli shirt from my Instagram and they used that to turn the fans against me. And to think that my daughter, for me, is more Neapolitan than Nigerian.”

The striker also revealed that Juventus, through their former sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli, had made an approach.

“Before negotiations with Galatasaray began, Giuntoli called me to bring me to Juve. But I knew that he [Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis] wouldn’t let me go.”

Osimhen described the fallout from the TikTok incident, which led to fans confronting him at his home.

“I feel sorry for the fans, especially because I never spoke about what happened. Some showed up outside my house demanding explanations. We talked, and I asked them to put themselves in my shoes.”

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According to the forward, a “gentleman’s agreement” was in place for him to leave the following summer, but he claims the promise was not kept.

“They tried to send me to play all over the place; they treated me like a dog,” he said. “Go here, go there, do this, do that… I worked so hard to progress in my career that I couldn’t accept that kind of treatment.”

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He also mentioned a conversation with then-manager Antonio Conte, who wanted him to remain at the club. “As soon as I arrived, Conte called me to his office and told me that he was aware of the situation, but that, despite everything, he wanted me to stay. I explained that I would have liked to work with him, but by then I had already made a decision: I didn’t want to continue working in a place where I wasn’t happy.”

Despite the acrimony, Osimhen spoke highly of Luciano Spalletti, the coach with whom he won the Scudetto at Napoli.

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“People said we argued, but it wasn’t true: I respect him a lot. A lot was expected of us, but he also gave a great deal. Some coaches help you grow first as a person and then as a footballer.”