Napoli and Nigeria set to clash over Victor Osimhen

The former Lille striker has returned to training after sustaining a nasty facial injury in Napoli’s Serie A 3-2 loss to Inter Milan on the 21st of October

Napoli and Nigeria are on a collision course over striker Victor Osimhen. Osimhen was initially billed to return to competitive action by the end of January, which would have seen him miss the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

But his accelerated recovery has prompted the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to push for an earlier return.

The Super Eagles star was released from the hospital last week after a successful operation, and he returned to light training earlier this week. This has prompted the NFF to push for the 22-year-old’s presence at the AFCON.

They want him to be part of the Super Eagles camp which opens in late December, in preparation for the 2021 AFCON so that they can analyse his condition.

However, Tuttomercato web reports that Napoli are not comfortable with this and have opted to invite the Nigerian medical team to assess Osimhen so as to decide if he would be fit enough for the AFCON.

The 2021 AFCON was postponed to January 2022 because of Covid-19. The Nigerian side will hope to have Osimhen’s quality when they go to battle in Cameroon, as he currently has ten goals in 18 appearances for the Super Eagles.