Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has told fans to be ‘patient’ with marquee signing Victor Osimhen after the forward scored in his first pre-season game on Monday.
Osimhen completed the move to the Partenopei outfit from Ligue 1 side Lille in a club-record fee of €70 million which could rise to €80 million to become Nigeria and Africa’s most expensive player in history.
And the Super Eagles forward showed that the money has been put to good use after scoring for the first time in a Napoli shirt.
And De Lurentiis has told the Stadio San Paolo faithful that patience is needed for the rising 21-year-old.
De Laurentiis told Radio Kiss Kiss “The fans ought to be patient with him because Osimhen hasn’t played in seven months and still needs to get to know Italian football.
“I urge the fans to give him time and space, so he can help the team. Rino Gattuso (manager) won’t give anyone an easy time.
“I see now and then the media say I paid €47m! Evidently I ought to start publishing the contracts. In Germany, where they are very reliable, they always talk about gross wages and not net.”
Osimhen’s rise to football has seen him play in Germany, Belgium and France before making the big money move to Italy.
The former U-17 starlet bagged 18 goals and provided six assists across all competitions and scooped the club’s Player of the Season award for his efforts.
He won the Golden Boot and Silver Ball awards as he helped the Golden Eaglets win the FIFA U-17 World Cup title for a record fifth time and was named 2015 African Youth Player of the Year.
Osimhen made his national team debut against Togo in a friendly in June 2017.
He has scored four goals in nine appearances for the Super Eagles and was part of the side
