Former Director defends napoli's stance

Former napoli sporting director mauro meloso has backed club owner aurelio de laurentiis for refusing to sell victor osimhen to Paris saint-germain back in the summer of 2023 — a decision that was fiercely debated at the time.

The French giants were desperate to land the nigeria international following his stunning contribution to napoli's historic Serie A title triumph in the 2022/23 campaign. PSG even held direct talks with osimhen's representatives, signaling just how serious their interest was.

Despite the pressure, de laurentiis held firm and refused to sanction the sale. osimhen stayed in Naples for one more season before eventually making the move to galatasaray.

A Decision Made To protect napoli

"Should osimhen and kvara have been sold together to PSG immediately after their third scudetto? At that point, de laurentiis didn't want to weaken napoli," meloso told radio kiss kiss napoli.

He acknowledged that hindsight makes it easy to second-guess the decision, but argued the logic at the time was sound.

"It would have sent a terrible signal to the club after winning the scudetto and losing spalletti and guintoli," he added, referencing the departures of coach luciano spalletti and sporting director cristiano guintoli in the same window.

"He refused for the good of napoli, but there are some things that go well and others that don't."

Context For African Football fans

For fans of the super eagles, this episode remains a key chapter in osimhen's career story. The striker had just delivered one of the most dominant individual seasons in Serie A history, firing napoli to their first league title in over 30 years.

His eventual move to galatasaray raised many eyebrows, with expectations that a bigger European club would come calling first. The revelation that PSG came close — only to be turned away — adds fresh context to how that saga unfolded.

osimhen remains one of Africa's biggest footballing exports, and every twist in his career is watched closely across the continent.