Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti has revealed Victor Osimhen was in danger of missing the rest of the season due to injury before the club medics stepped in.
Napoli returned to their winning ways Friday night with a 2-1 win at Lecce and they are now 19 points clear of second-placed Lazio with nine rounds of matches still to be played.
Osimhen missed the game after a muscular injury he picked up on international duty with the Super Eagles.
He is now battling to be fit for Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League quarterfinal showdown against Serie A rivals AC Milan.
However, Spalletti has now opened up that the striker could have missed the rest of the campaign but for the quick intervention of the medical staff.
“Osimhen wants to play every game, but there are situations that need to be evaluated carefully. He really did run the risk of hurting himself badly and being ruled out for the rest of the season, so the medics were right to make him take some time out,” the Napoli coach revealed.
“Now we need to see if with a little strong physical activity the pressure on the muscles grows and how he reacts, because so far he has only done some basic jogging.”
The Napoli coach admitted the team have missed the striker, who has netted 25 goals in all competitions thus far.
“It does become difficult without him, because he has this way of running into space, this physicality, he can draw everyone to him and therefore create the space for his teammates,” he said.
