SSC Napoli of Italy striker, Victor Osimhen remains a strong doubt for any return to action this Sunday, as doctors at his Italian Serie A club are yet to receive clearance to declare him match-ready, megasportsarena.com reports.
Following concussion and a slump last weekend in action against Atalanta, Osimhen missed Thursday’s UEFA Europa League exit at the feet of Granada of Spain and his woes look set to continue into this weekend as well.
This is sequel to worrying words from his club’s coach, Gennaro Gattuso, who admitted that the chances of Osimhen playing against Benevento are very slim, as the clearance is up to the Italian football federation’s medical checks, not any decision from Napoli’s club medics.
While Gattuso awaits a verdict from the soccer governing body to decide when Osimhen will return to action, the youngster was unavailable for Thursday’s Europa League round of 32 clash and, despite a 2-1 home victory at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples, where his side went crashing out of the second-tier European clubs’ competition.
Piotr Zielinski fired Napoli ahead in the third minute but the goal was cancelled out by Angel Montoro in the 25th minute, leaving The Blues with a mountain to climb to progress to the last 16 as they needed to score three more goals without reply.
Napoli failed to get the chestnut out of the fire, despite Fabian Ruiz finding the net just before the hour mark, which is another collective setback for Osimhen, who is now looking up to the FIGC for clearance before resuming training following the head injury he suffered last Sunday.
Gattuso afterwards put in a word about Osimhen, as he told Sky Sport Italia: “I don’t know if he will be available on Sunday. It’s not up to us, he’s had a head injury, he’s blacked out, and it’s up to Federation protocol on things like that, not our doctor.”
