7 Players Napoli Frustrated Before Allowing to Leave Amid Victor Osimhen’s Saga

• Victor Osimhen's relationship with Napoli deteriorated totally before he left the club on loan
• President Aurelio De Laurentiis, who has owned the club since 2004, is a tough negotiator
• Osimhen joins a list of players whom the club frustrated before allowing to join other clubs

Victor Osimhen's relationship with Napoli was totally broken before the Nigerian forward left the club to join Turkish champions Galatasaray on a season-long loan.

Osimhen rejected the proposed move to Chelsea over a disagreement on personal terms, but the Italian club botched moves to Paris Saint-Germain and Al-Ahli.

Napoli have a history of being tightfisted on players wanting to leave since Aurelio De Laurentiis bought the club in 2024, and the Super Eagles star will not be the first.

Briefly News looks at some players whom the club frustrated before they were allowed to leave.

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1. Edinson Cavani

The Uruguayan forward joined Napoli in 2010 on an initial loan with an obligation to buy. He hit form straight away, forming a deadly trio with Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik. According to Sky Sports, ADL rejected bids of up to €55 million from Manchester City and Chelsea before selling him to PSG a year later.

2. Ezequiel Lavezzi

Lavezzi joined Napoli in 2007 and had been attempting to leave the club since 2009 before he was eventually granted his request in 2012 when he joined PSG. Premier League clubs Chelsea, Manchester City, and even Tottenham inquired, but the Italians refused to sell.

3. Kalidou Koulibaly

Koulibaly spent eight seasons at Napoli after joining from Genk in 2014. He was one of the best defenders in the world for many years, which made him a target for top European clubs. According to Football Italia, De Laurentiis rejected Manchester United’s £95 million bid in 2018, and the Reds signed Harry Maguire instead. He was eventually sold to Chelsea for £34mil in 2022.

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Victor Osimhen: how his relationship with Napoli broke down before Galatasaray move

4. Marek Hamsik

The Slovakian midfielder spent almost 12 years at Napoli and was denied moves to top European clubs at his peak, including Juventus and Chelsea. He was eventually sold to Chinese club Dalian Professional

5. Dries Mertens

The Belgian forward is one of the best Napoli players in the club's history. He left the club after nine years as the all-time top scorer with 148 goals in 397 games, as noted by Transfermarkt. He was denied a transfer multiple times, including to Chelsea and Liverpool, before eventually joining Galatasaray in 2022.

6. Lorenzo Insigne

Insigne came through the ranks at Napoli and won two Coppa Italia in his 12 seasons in the first team. Inter Milan, Barcelona and Liverpool all went for the winger at different points for as much as €100mil, but Napoli rejected all. He left in 2022 and joined MLS franchise Toronto FC.

Read also

How Galatasaray could line up with Osimhen to battle Mourinho’s Fenerbahce

7. Gonzalo Higuain

Arsenal and Atletico Madrid came for the Argentine striker on different occasions during his three-year stint at Estadio Diego Armando Maradona. He was eventually sold to rivals Juventus for €90mil immediately after winning the Serie A Golden Boot with a record 36 goals in the 2015/16 season.

Osimhen's deadline day drama

Briefly News reported that Aurelio De Laurentiis further botched a move after Saudi Arabia came back, and the Italian kept shifting grounds even when he offered parts of his salary to pay them off.

This led to Chelsea taking advantage of the situation once more and offering him a salary that would leave him with only about 37% of his salary after deductions and taxes. When their offer failed, they pulled a PR stunt by claiming the Super Eagles star demanded £500,000 per week, which he denied was false.

Source: Legit.ng