By Daily Sports Nigeria on May 16, 2024

Victor Osimhen will miss Friday’s Serie A clash with Fiorentina, The PUNCH reports.

Osimhen did not participate in training on Wednesday due to a muscular problem, and only had physiotherapy and personalised work in the gym.

Piotr Zielinski and Mario Rui also worked separately from the rest of the squad, but Jens Lindstrom is back in with the group.

Osimhen scored 15 goals in Serie A this season, but has been affected by numerous injuries and his absence due to the Africa Cup of Nations in January and February.

If he doesn’t make it for Friday, then it is likely that Giacomo Raspadori or Giovanni Simeone will step in as the centre-forward.

The Partenopei fell behind the Viola in the Serie A standings last week after losing 2-0 to Bologna and must win in Florence to stand a chance of getting eighth place or at least qualify for the Conference League.

However, coach Francesco Calzona’s squad is significantly weakened without last year’s Capocannoniere.

Osimhen has scored 15 goals in Serie A this season, but has been affected by numerous injuries and his absence due to the Africa Cup of Nations in January and February.

It remains to be seen if the 25-year-old will shrug off his injury concerns to be fit for next month’s World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin Republic.

Samuel Chukwueze and Bright Osayi-Samuel are also major doubts for the qualifiers.

Nigeria are third in Group C with two points behind Rwanda and South Africa who both have four points after two games.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are reportedly keen on signing the 25-year-old Nigerian striker in the summer transfer window.

According to TEAMtalk, Osimhen is keen on a moving to Stamford Bridge in the summer transfer window, with the Napoli striker is waiting for Chelsea to submit their summer to the Serie A club.

Osimhen is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, and he should prove to be a superb acquisition for Chelsea. However, he will not come cheap, with his Napoli contract having a release clause worth £113m.

The Nigeria international has 17 goals in all competitions, and he could solve Chelsea’s goalscoring problems next term. He would be a major upgrade on Nicolas Jackson. Chelsea signed the Senegalese international last summer to solve their goalscoring problems. But he has been quite mediocre and has not been able to find the back of the net consistently.

Osimhen helped Napoli win the Serie A title last season, and he has been linked with clubs like Paris Saint-Germain as well. However, he prefers to move to the Premier League.

Source Punch Ng

Posted May 16, 2024

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