Victor Osimhen made his long-awaited return from injury and a bout of COVID-19 in Napoli’s 6th Serie A defeat of the season on Sunday.
The forward had sustained a shoulder injury while on international duty with Nigeria back on November 13.
The injury turned out to be worst than first thought and ruled him out for the remainder of 2020. And just when he looked set to return to the pitch, he faced another setback.
Osimhen tested positive to Covid-19 on new year’s day after returning to Italy from Nigeria where he spent his yuletide break.
A video of him partying with a group of people and without wearing a mask surfaced online.
The 22-year-old was fined by Napoli for breaching Covid-19 protocols. “He made a silly mistake, he knows that. He has already apologised, he’s a lad who gives his all when working.” Napoli boss Gennaro Gattuso said on Osimhen’s incident.
“I am a coach, I don’t decide fines, especially as I was the one who gave the all-clear for him to return to Nigeria and so both of us were left embarrassed by what happened.
“He made a mistake and he will pay what he needs to pay,” Gattuso added.
After recovering from Covid-19 inside of last week, he was included in Napoli’s squad for their Sunday fixture away to Hellas Verona.
With the Azzuri trailing 2-1, Gattuso turned to his bench and brought on Osimhen and Politano in the 65th minute to help salvage a result.
It wasn’t to be though, as Verona got their third goal nine minutes from time to put a dent on the visitors’ Champions League hopes.
Nonetheless, Osimhen’s return will no doubt be a boost for his side as the season enters crunch time.
