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NAPOLI president Aurelio De Laurentiis confirmed that Victor Osimhen will leave the club at the end of the season, while also ruling out that Jose Mourinho will come on board to coach the Serie A club.
Nigerian international Osimhen, who is in Ivory Coast for the Africa Cup of Nations, told CBS Sports last week that he had “already made a decision about the next step in his career”.
“We knew about Osimhen since this summer. We knew perfectly well that he would go to Real Madrid, Paris St-Germain or an English team,” De Laurentiis told reporters at the end of the Serie A club assembly in Milan on Friday.
Osimhen, who moved to Napoli in 2020 for a club-record 70 million euros (US$76 million) potentially, rising to 80 million euros with add-ons, was a pivotal player last season as the club won their first league title in 33 years and finished as Serie A top scorer with 26 goals.
He signed a contract extension last month that runs until June 2026, with Italian media reporting that the new deal included a release clause of between 120 and 130 million euros.
Laurentiis also denied that Mourinho would replace Walter Mazzarri.
The Portuguese coach’s sacking by AS Roma earlier this month sparked numerous rumours about his future and has been linked with jobs in Saudi Arabia and Napoli.
“Mourinho has nothing to do with Napoli. He is a very funny and impulsive coach, but I feel his destiny lies outside Italy. Surely not at Napoli,” he added. — Reuters.
Bongani Ndlovu