Osimhen gets new Napoli coach Walter mazzarri, says why he declined Saudi offer

Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen now has a new coach at Napoli as Serie A winners Walter Mazzarri has been named head coach till the conclusion of the campaign.

Up until Monday, Napoli and Igor Tudor were in negotiations, but the agreement fell through because neither side could come to a resolution.

Napoli won the Scudetto for the first time in thirty-three years last season. Under Luciano Spalletti’s coaching, the squad prospered, especially with offensive players like Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Kvaratskhelia won the league’s best player title with 12 goals and 13 assists, while Osimhen won the top striker award with 26 goals and four assists in the Serie A.

But when the club won the league, coach Spalletti took a break before obtaining the Italy job. The French strategist Rudi Garca was then chosen by Napoli to assume the role.

Sadly, the Serie A champions have not performed at the same level as they did the previous season, and things have not gone well as they try to defend their championship. Ten points behind rivals Inter Milan, they presently occupy the fourth spot in the Italian premier division.

Garcia was fired by the team on Monday due to their recent bad performance, and he left the team the same day to return to France. There were rumours that they and former Marseille manager Tudor were close to reaching an agreement. But that agreement fell through

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano claims that after reaching a personal terms agreement, the club has now chosen to name Mazzarri. The Italian will work there till the conclusion of the current campaign.

The 62-year-old coach is delighted to serve as the team’s caretaker till the conclusion of the season. He previously lived in the capital of Campania for four years, from 2009 to 2013.

Osimhen will be keen to reap the rewards of working with an attack-minded coach who focuses on the centre forward as the spear of the attack instead of Garcia who tried to get other players to score.

Osinhem who is currently the eighth best player in the world has been the center of attraction from big clubs, including Manchester United and Chelsea.

Speaking to former Chelsea midfielder, John Obi Mikel on the ‘Obi One Podcast’ via Calciomercato.com, the talented striker shared his thoughts on the Premier League, the clubs he likes to join and the reasons he rejected the offer from Saudi Arabia.

The talented player who achieved massive feats in the 2022-2023 season at Serie A club, Napoli also spoke about the attractive offer from Saudi Arabia club, Al-Hilal, stressing that he never thought about leaving last summer because Napoli wanted to keep him.

On his response about the Premier League club he is interested in, Osimhen said:

“I don’t have a favourite Premier League club, but I have two shirts, Chelsea and Manchester United. Many of my friends are Chelsea fans, a few Man United. The Premier League is the most popular league for any African player, it’s a great league.”

In the summer, Saudi club, Al-Hilal offered a mouth watering offer of €200m to Napoli, but president Aurelio De Laurentiis rejected the offer. He said they were not ready to release Osimhen yet.

In his words, “It was crazy… The more I said no, the more they increased the financial offer. It would have changed my life, they never gave up. But I said, no guys, I’m staying.”

Osimhen admitted the lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia ‘would’ve changed his life’ as he reflected on Al-Hilal’s mega-offer in the summer saying, “What was said is true. I have to be honest, I never thought about leaving last summer because Napoli wanted to keep me, but when the offer came from Saudi Arabia, a huge offer, it was hard to refuse. I spoke to Napoli and decided to stay.