SSC Napoli of Italy striker, Victor Osimhen has pleaded for forgiveness from the Italian Serie A club’s officials, coach, players and fans, following the coronavirus infection he picked up during his 22nd birthday party in Lagos, megasportsarena.com reports.
The coronavirus infection that was detected by tests on Thursday, following his arrival back in Naples from Lagos, means the recently injured striker will be out for another 14 days at the least, as he entered quarantine following the positive result.
Knowing fully that it is another setback affecting him and the club, for which he last played on November 8 before copping a shoulder dislocation in action with Nigeria against Sierra Leone, Osimhen has apologised for the ‘reckless party,’ in which he breached COVID-19 restrictions.
Osimhen tested positive for coronavirus upon his return to Naples, thereby marking another downturn of fortunes so early in the new year for the former VfL Wolfsburg of Germany, Sporting Charleroi of Belgium and Lille Metropole of France striker, who is yet to play for Napoli since suffering a shoulder injury on international duty with Nigeria last November.
He is now isolating at home in Italy, which saw him miss Sunday’s Serie A victory over Cagliari, and will surely be absent for subsequent league games Udinese and Spezua as well as the Italian Cup game against Empoli and Super Cup clash with Juventus on January 20.
He scored only twice in nine league appearances for The Blues since his arrival in their biggest transfer ever last summer from Lille, but the 22-year-old is sure to get more worries on his mind, after drawing the club’s ire for hosting a lavish party when he was meant to be recuperating in Belgium and for failing to wear a protective mask during the bash.
He has already been fined two weeks’ wages for what Napoli coach, Gennaro Gatuso described a ‘a mistake’ by the Chile 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup top scorer, and the club’s top brass were left in a fury after details emerged on how the lad possibly picked up the coronavirus infection, sequel to tell-tale videos of his birthday party that surfaced on social media.
Corriere del Mezzogiorno reports further that Napoli authorities and Gattuso are angry with the Nigerian youngster’s carelessness, but Osimhen has now taken to social media to apologize over what he admitted was ‘wrong conduct’ from him and he humbly asked for forgiveness.
Osimhen wrote: “I am so sorry for what happened, I was wrong to go to Nigeria in this moment, even if I have many loved ones over there, including my brothers.
“I was wrong to take part in the party I didn’t understand the severity of what I was doing. I apologise to the club, the coach, the team and the fans.”
In reaction, Gattuso publicly expressed his ‘disappointment’ despite his side’s win over Cagliari and declared that Osimhen will pay for his mistake for attending the birthday party in Lagos.
Gattuso addressed the issue after his side’s 4-1 victory against Cagliari on Sunday afternoon and the AC Milan legend told Sky Sport Italia: “When I made a mistake, Marcello Lippi used to say he’d let me stew in my own juices for a while, to recognize what I’d done.
“That’s what Osimhen has to do now. He has already apologized, he’s a lad who gives his all when working. He made a silly mistake, he knows that. I am a coach, I don’t decide fines, especially as I was the one who gave the all-clear for him to return to Nigeria.
“So, both of us were left embarrassed by what happened. He made a mistake and he will pay what he needs to pay.”
