Napoli’s newest signing, Alessandro Buongiorno, who has spent five years playing in the Italian top-flight has revealed Victor Osimhen to be the toughest opponent he’s faced, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 25-year-old versatile defender was a part of Luciano Spalletti’s EURO 2024 team that struggled to perform in Germany, although he made no appearances.
He joins Napoli for a fee of €35m after spending his entire career in Torino where he scored nine goals and provided eight assists in 205 games as a centre-back.
Speaking at his unveiling ceremony, the 1.91m tall defender was quizzed about the toughest opponent he faced in Italy during his time at Torino.
“Victor(Osimhen) was definitely tough. We all know about his speed and he was really difficult to mark. Man-marking Lukaku was also really difficult because he is so big. There are many strong strikers, and it’s always difficult. You have to study them a lot, watch their movement and how their teammates like to get them the ball,” the four-cap Gli-Azzuri defender said in quotes from Football Italia.
Buongiorno could potentially end up playing with either of his toughest opponents when this summer transfer window elapses.
It is looking increasingly likely that Victor Osimhen’s future is away from the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium while Napoli are all set to bring Romelu Lukaku in as a replacement for the Super Eagles striker.
Napoli kick off their season officially on Saturday, August 10 at home. They’ll play against Serie B side, Modena, to ignite their Copa Italia campaign.