Giovanni Manna, Napoli’s sporting director, spoke about the attack and the recently concluded transfer market in his interview with Radio CRC, in particular about Osimhen. “Victor’s situation has affected us. He himself expressed his desire to no longer play for Napoli and to leave: the conditions were not there initially for this transfer to happen. But we were missing a striker with different characteristics who could combine our technical needs and those of the coach. Hence the acceleration on Romelu’s transfer”.
“Osimhen was an opportunity in Turkey, the market was closed in Europe. They approached us as soon as our summer session was over. We weren’t very open at the beginning, because similar situations had arisen during the market, but neither we nor Victor wanted a loan. Then, by talking to the player, we managed to find a solution and the solution was satisfactory for everyone. It’s clear that we would have liked to sell him, but it wasn’t possible.”
The words are those of someone who found himself in a bind because the wind was changing. Because there has always been a basic eccentricity, a sort of living in the moment, but now it is even more than before. If Osimhen were to score 40 goals at Galatasaray, then maybe a big club could choose to pay even more than the clause (for accounting and tax reasons, as happened with others before him). Otherwise the risk is that he returns to Naples, for another time, with an extended contract and 10 million euros per year.
His failure to transfer had an impact, but not too much. Napoli invested 150 million and earned only 12. It means having made a pharaonic market that yes, could have been “saved” by Osimhen, but was not then conditioned since even the bridging renewal was a move to try to sell him at the best. Which however led to a new “declaration of intent” on how much to earn.