Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis stirred controversy at a recent press conference by addressing Victor Osimhen’s frequent absences due to fitness issues, highlighting that the club’s most expensive acquisition has been unavailable for several matches.

Manager Francesco Calzona couldn’t rely on Osimhen to lead the attack as Napoli played to a 2-2 draw with Fiorentina in Serie A on Friday night.

Osimhen is currently struggling with a muscle strain injury ahead of Nigeria’s back-to-back 2026 World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa’s Bafana Bafana and Benin’s Cheetahs.

It remains uncertain whether Osimhen will be fit for selection against Lecce on the final day of the season, which could be his last game as a Napoli player amid transfer speculation linking him to Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain in the summer transfer window.

This season, the Nigerian striker has missed sixteen matches due to fitness issues and was also unavailable while on duty with the Super Eagles at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

In quotes relayed by Vesuviolive, De Laurentiis told reporters: “You can’t force coaches to train a club or ensure that your top striker scores twenty-eight goals and isn’t injured, especially when he only participated in 50% of the matches he should have played.

“I collect everything about myself. That’s fine, but at a certain point, I also send something back to the sender.”

Osimhen was instrumental in Napoli winning their first Serie A title since 1990, scoring 26 goals in 32 matches during the 2022-2023 campaign.