NAPOLI striker Victor Osimhen has expressed his appreciation to Gennaro Gattuso and Luciano Spalletti for their roles in his development into one of Europe’s best players.
Gattuso brought Osimhen to Italy from France in the summer of 2020 when Napoli paid a club record €80 million to Lille for his services.
After Gattuso’s sacking as manager, Spalletti took over and Osimhen has thrived under the Italian, scoring 25 goals in 29 appearances this season.
Napoli are on course for their first Scudetto in 33 years and the city is expected to take on a carnival atmosphere when the title in confirmed.
“I owe a lot to Gennaro Gattuso because he worked on my motivation and the enhancement of my self-esteem, but with Spalletti my growth has been greater because of the work done over the months,” the Nigeria international told French publication France Football.
“Spalletti always asked me to be explosive, to be like dynamite for opposing defences. An assessment has been made of my running, the distances I have to keep from defenders and how I have to react to assists.
“There are five metres I can cover faster than the others, I have to stay in that distance.
“With Spalletti I have no choice. I score goals, but I’m also the first defender. Otherwise he goes crazy. But he’s a genius, if we do what we want on the pitch he says, we can beat any opponent.”
The Super Eagles striker is looking forward to Napoli’s Serie A success and the celebrations in a city he has come to love.
“I could only listen to the stories of the previous Scudetto celebrations. I’m curious to find out what the Neapolitans will organise. It is an honour for me to play in Naples, where Maradona played,” he added.
“I want to win this Scudetto to see the joy on the fans’ faces, I can’t wait to see that celebration. It will be exciting.”
Osimhen went down memory lane to his humble beginnings in Lagos and how it shaped his rise to the top of the game.
“As a kid, I only thought about running away from difficulties and troubles. difficulties, to pursue my dreams. I’m very attached to my land, I left my city just for football and I’m going back to show everyone that you can cultivate your dreams,” he noted.
“Now I laugh about it, but it wasn’t easy, I received many nos, many doors in the face. Charleroi made me reborn, after the first season in Belgium an Italian club already wanted me.”
The record scorer in a single edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup with 10 goals in 2015 revealed how fascinated he has been by Naples, the city he has lived in for the past three years.
He added: “Naples changed my life. I had never seen anything like this. The whole city lives for the team: when I arrived, I asked Mertens and Koulibaly if it was true, they answered me that I hadn’t seen anything yet.
“The fans never worry me, even when they stop me on the street. They just want to give you their affection. At the stadium they are incredible and they help us.
“Someone didn’t believe in me when I arrived in Italy, but the club and my teammates did. And this is fundamental. To explode I needed the right place, Naples is my place.
“I couldn’t be happier than I am today in Naples. And the city deserves it: it’s Naples that made me who I am.”
