Super Eagles goal machine Victor Osimhen has finally opened on why he left his former club Napoli.
Now plying his trade with Galatasaray, the Nigerian striker revealed that his relationship with the Italian giants collapsed after the club’s official TikTok account mocked him for missing a penalty during the 2023–24 season.
In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Osimhen described the episode as humiliating and deeply offensive.
After he missed the spot-kick, Napoli’s TikTok page posted two controversial videos, later deleted, that appeared to ridicule him.
One clip showed images of Osimhen with a coconut alongside lyrics saying, “I’m not a boy… I’m not a girl… I’m a coconut,” while another featured footage of him appealing for and then missing the penalty, edited with squeaky, sped-up audio.
The striker said the incident changed everything.
“Anyone can miss a penalty, anyone can be mocked for it. Napoli only did it to me, and with certain innuendos, too. I was the victim of racist insults, and I made my decision: I wanted to leave. I deleted photos of me in a Napoli shirt from my Instagram, and they seized the opportunity to turn the fans against me. And to think, my daughter, for me, is more Neapolitan than Nigerian.”
Osimhen also revealed that although there had been a “gentlemen’s agreement” for him to leave the following summer, he felt betrayed.
“We had a gentlemen’s agreement that I could leave the following summer, but the other side didn’t fully keep their promise. They tried to send me to play everywhere, treating me like a dog. Go here, go there, do this, do that… I worked so hard to advance my career, I couldn’t accept that kind of treatment. I’m not a puppet,” he said.
Dismissing rumours of misconduct, Osimhen insisted he remained professional despite the turmoil.
“No one ever publicly apologized for what happened. After that famous video, Edoardo De Laurentiis called me several times. Stop. Meanwhile, there were rumors that I was late to the pitch, that I was arguing with my teammates… It’s all lies. I feel sorry for the fans, but I understand and admire them: they always support the club. For them, Napoli comes first.”
