Former Napoli doctor Alfonso De Nicola is of the opinion that The Blues didn't handle Victor Osimhen's shoulder injury very well, an ailment he suffered while on international duty with the Super Eagles last November.

De Nicola questioned the decision of the management of the club to send Osimhen and Dries Mertens to Belgium to receive further treatment.

He admitted that the poor handling of the injuries by Napoli medics may have contributed to the club's failure to qualify for the 2021-2022 UEFA Champions League.

Osimhen missed sixteen games in all competitions due to a combination of the shoulder injury and testing positive for coronavirus.

"If we had had just one more point, we would have been calm. Maybe I'm wrong, but there the mistake was in the management of the year, including in health management," Nicola said on Radio Marte Sport Show', a program of Radio Marte, according to Area Napoli.

"I think of Dries Mertens and Victor Osimhen, who let themselves go to Belgium for treatment.

"It also happened when I was there, that the players went elsewhere in case of injury, but I always sent a man of mine with them, so that he would report to me every evening the work done during the day.

"They will have worked very well , in Belgium, but the result was terrible. We were unlucky, because they had ankle or shoulder problems at the same time. At that moment, we needed elements of that caliber."

Osimhen finished the season strongly, scoring eight goals and assisting two others in his last fourteen matches in the Italian top-flight.

Igho Kingsley