'Doesn't understand football' - Ex-Napoli coach calls out club president over Osimhen contract saga

Former Napoli coach Rudi Garcia has blamed the club's President Aurelio de Laurentiis over the way Victor Osimhen's contractual situation was handled.

Osimhen is an icon of the Italian side, after guiding them to their first-ever Scudetto in 33 years, scoring 26 goals, and was also the recipient of the top scorer award

The Super Eagles striker’s relationship with Napoli became messy last summer when the club failed to accept several offers for him.

Chelsea and Al-Ahli made a last-ditch attempt to secure his signature, but De Laurentiis insisted that his €130 million valuation be met.

At the time, his contract was supposed to expire next summer, which meant Napoli risked losing him for free, but a compromise was reached, and he extended his contract for a further year.

The club had considered him redundant, and he had to leave for Galatasaray on loan for the rest of the season, but there is a break clause that permits him to leave next month.

Speaking in a recent interview, Garcia blamed De Laurentiis for Osimhen's contractual situation, insisting that the Nigerian striker should have been handed a new contract before last summer.

In quotes relayed by haber sari kirmizi, he said: "Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis doesn't understand football. 

"If he had kept me instead of letting me go, we would have qualified for the Champions League instead of finishing 10th. I'm 60 years old, I can't let a president tell me how to field the team.

"At that time, more than half of the players and staff wanted to leave Napoli. De Laurentiis started to meddle in everything from tactics and the system to my preferences. 

"I was made to pay the price because I told him to stay in his own area.

"The contracts of Victor Osimhen and Piotr Zielinski had to be renewed. One of them renewed his contract after a long time, the other one did not renew it at all and was transferred to Inter."

Despite extending his contract until 2026, the former African Men's Player of the Year is expected to leave Napoli, though that is unlikely to be in next month's transfer window.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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