Conte sacks Napoli’s Osimhen after failed transfer, Lukaku takes his No. 9 shirt

Italian Serie A side Napoli manager Antonio Conte has left Nigerian international striker Victor Osimhen out of the list of players registered for the team this season, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Osimhen, who has not been part of Conte’s plan in pre-season and even at the start of this season, had an unsuccessful move to Saudi Arabian club Al Ahli and, most recently, to English Premier League club Chelsea before the summer transfer window closed.

Napoli’s demand for an extra €5m was said to have caused talks with the Saudis to break down, while Chelsea’s offer of a salary less than half of what he currently earns caused a halt to the proposed deal.

Conte has decided to leave the 25-year-old out of his squad for the season after presenting the list of registered players to the Serie A body and has handed his number 9 shirt to new signing Romelu Lukaku. However, Osimhen can move to Saudi Arabia as the transfer window is open until Monday.

He will for now remain away from the first team before flying to Nigeria on Monday to resume camp and training with the Nigeria senior team, ahead of their AFCON qualifiers against Benin Republic and Rwanda on September 7 and 10 respectively.