By Harry Ewing
September 27 – The Rome Prosecutor’s Office has entered Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis into its register of suspects, as the organisation investigates an accusation of false accounting linked to the purchase of Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen from Lille in 2020.
In June 2022, on the mandate of the Neapolitan prosecutors, the Guardia di Finanza seized the documents relating to the purchase of the Nigerian with searches carried out in Castel Volturno, Rome and France.
Napoli bought Osimhen from Lille for more than €71 million in 2020, with €50 million paid in cash. This deal generated nearly €20 million in profit, which the Financial Police have been investigating for over a year.
Investigators are looking into the valuation of €21.25million attributed to four Napoli players sent to Lille as part of the deal: goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis and young players Claudio Manzi, Luigi Liguori, and Ciro Palmieri.
Notably, none of the three young players ever played for Lille, unlike Karnezis, who played a singular game for Lille in the fourth round of the Coupe de France.
The news breaks as the official Napoli TikTok account posted a bizarre, now-deleted, video appearing to mock their Nigerian superstar, who is the subject in this investigation, depicting the player’s penalty pleas and consequential miss during the club’s 0-0 draw against Bologna at the weekend.
Outraged by the out-of-pocket post, the 24-year-old deleted all pictures involving Napoli on his Instagram account, suggesting he wants nothing to do with the club. The Nigerian was also seen berating his own manager, Rudi Garcia, after he was substituted at the weekend following the crucial miss.
Osimhen’s agent, Roberto Calenda, is reportedly threatening legal action against the club, and says the video posted by the Serie A champions ‘mocking’ client was ‘not acceptable’.
Calenda posted on X saying: “What happened today on Napoli’s official profile on the TikTok platform is not acceptable. A video mocking Victor was first made public and then, but now belatedly, deleted.
“A serious fact that causes very serious damage to the player and adds to the treatment that the boy is suffering in the last period between media trials and fake news.”
“We reserve the right to take legal action and any useful initiative to protect Victor,” Calenda continued.
The Serie A champions rejected an offer of around €150 million from Saudi Arabia for the star striker in the summer. Osimhen’s current deal concludes in 2025.
Napoli have struggled to kick off the domestic season with the same fruitful form of last term: they sit in seventh place with only two wins from their first seven Serie A games.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1734931103labto1734931103ofdlr1734931103owedi1734931103sni@g1734931103niwe.1734931103yrrah1734931103