Nigeria international and Napoli striker Victor Osimhen is facing a race against time to recover from a muscle injury and be available for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals against Milan on Wednesday.
Osimhen, who suffered the injury while on international duty with Nigeria last month, missed Napoli’s 4-0 loss against Milan two weeks ago and was also unavailable for their 2-1 win over Lecce in a Serie A fixture.
The 24-year-old has been in phenomenal form this season, topping the highest goal scorer chart in Serie A with 21 goals in 23 matches.
His impressive performances have been instrumental in powering Napoli towards their first historic league title in three decades.
News About Nigeria understands that Osimhen has been training at the Castel Volturno soccer field, giving Napoli fans hope that he could still make an appearance in Wednesday’s crucial Champions League match.
Tuesday will be a crucial date in determining Osimhen’s availability, according to Sky Sports Italia. Napoli fans will be keeping their fingers crossed that their star striker can recover in time for this crucial encounter.
“On Saturday Osimhen had worked out in the gym, on the treadmill. On Sunday he returned to work in the field. The certainty is that Victor is trying and will try until the last minute to be there in the first leg quarters at San Siro,” as quoted by Area Napoli.
“The player will continue his recovery work on Monday too, the intention is to have clinical tests and a decisive audition on Tuesday to be part of the list of players called up for the away match in Milan.
“Should the last test give positive signals, Spalletti could insert him among the starters for the away match at San Siro, he could initially take a seat on the bench and possibly enter the second half if there was a need, but now it is still too early to tell, but the confidence is growing.”
With 25 goals in 29 appearances across all competitions, Osimhen has been a standout player for Napoli this season.
Napoli fans will be hoping that their talismanic striker will be fit and available to take on Milan and help secure a spot in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
