Former Napoli manager claims Osimhen’s presence could have bought him more time at the club

Napoli hired Rudi Garcia to replace the departing Luciano Spalletti who is now the manager of the Italian national team. They sacked Garcia to hire Mazzarri and have now sacked the Italian coach.

Former Napoli coach, Walter Mazzarri, has hinted that Victor Osimhen’s presence in the Napoli team could have bought him more time at the club before he was fired, Soccernet.ng reports.

Mazzarri, 62, was appointed as the Gli Azzurri boss after a poor start to the season with Rudi Garcia in charge. At the second start of his stint at the club, Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen was battling with a hamstring injury.

Osimhen, 25, won the Serie golden boot last season as Napoli carted the Italian league title, but could only play eight games under Mazzarri before he left to represent Nigeria at the AFCON 2023 tournament in Ivory Coast.

In that time, Napoli struggled without their talisman, as they recorded just three wins from nine games, and since his return, he hasn’t played due to fitness, leaving Mazzarri wanting.

In a report published by La Repubblica, the former Cagliari coach wished he had Osimhen to face Barcelona in Napoli’s UEFA Champions League round of sixteen tie to buy him a bit of time.

“I was hoping to manage against Barcelona with Victor Osimhen on the pitch,” Mazzarri said to La Repubblica in quotes revealed by CN24.

Slovakia’s Francesco Calzona has now been appointed as the head coach of the three-time Serie A champions, and will be in charge on the touchline till the end of the season.

Calzona will lead Slovakia at Euro 2024 and the country’s FA says his deal at Napoli is until the end of the season. He has a contract with Slovakia until 2025, which would be automatically extended if they qualified for the 2026 World Cup.