Nigerian star Osimhen credits Gattusso and Spalletti for fostering his growth as a player
Nigerian star Osimhen credits Gattusso and Spalletti for fostering his growth as a player
The Nigerian star, Osimhen, currently leads the Italian Serie A top scorer chart with 21 goals
Super Eagles attacker, Victor Osimhen, gives Gennaro Gattuso and Luciano Spalletti credit for his development as a player.
The Nigerian international claims that his drive and self-esteem have greatly improved due to Gattuso’s support, and he accepts that his development has been accelerated by the work completed over the last month under the direction of his new boss.
The Super Eagles forward has been firing on all cylinders for the Parthenopeans, scoring 25 goals in all 29 appearances for the Gli Azzurri.
The Nigerian was lured to the Diego Maradona stadium in the 2020 summer window by the now-Valencia manager, who declared that he had “been following…” Osimhen “for some time”.
However, the Super Eagles talisman revealed in a long interview with France Football that he owed the former Napoli boss for helping his development during his time in Naples.
“I owe a lot to Gennaro Gattuso because he worked on my motivation and on enhancing my self-esteem, but with Spalletti, my growth has been greater due to work done over the months,” he said, as cited by Tutto Napoli.
Gattuso left Napoli in 2021 as a result of his failure to help Napoli finish in fourth place after a 1-1 home draw with Verona.
Meanwhile, Osimhen discussed how the current Napoli manager, Spalletti, who replaced Gattuso, has assisted in developing him into a stronger striker.
“Spalletti has always asked me to be explosive, to be like dynamite for the opposing defences. An assessment was made on my running, the distances I have to keep from defenders and how I have to react to assists. There are five meters that I can cover faster than the others, and I have to stay within that distance”. he added.
The Nigerian star has been sidelined from Spalletti’s squad due to an injury. But he had hoped to rejoin the squad in time for their encounter against Verona on matchday 30.