Legendary Italian Agent, Antonio Caliendo, has called out Osimhen and Napoli’s management for how they handled his supposed exit from the Serie A giants this summer, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 25-year-old was widely tipped to make a big-money move to a bigger club in one of Europe’s top five leagues during the summer transfer window, but a move didn’t surface.
Instead, the Super Eagles forward ended up signing for Turkish side, Galatasaray on a season-long loan, which in turn, will see him miss out on UEFA Champions League football for one year.
Caliendo, speaking on Radio Goal, a program hosted by Kiss Kiss Napoli, revealed someone between Osimhen’s team and the Napoli management made an error that cost the striker a move to a big club.
“If I have to be frank, the first time I saw him play in Napoli, I told my friend that he would have come to cost $200 million. Right now, thanks to the direction of those who took care of all his management, his transfer operation was disappointing, going into the market as if he were a discarded shoe. Instead, he should have been the leading man of the world transfer market, but he was not managed in the right way. On the part of those who managed him, reassurances were made about his multi-million dollar sale and De Laurentiis trusted them,” the 80-year-old said in quotes revealed by Area Napoli.
Caliendo also didn’t spare Osimhen’s agent, Roberto Calenda, claiming the frustration of the entire event played out in the striker’s online rant about Finidi George back in June.
“Calenda flopped, and it was in front of everyone’s eyes. There was talk of Chelsea, of PSG and in the end, he went to Galatasaray, so someone was wrong. I was very disappointed, I declared that Osimhen made me worried, but it made me worry more if it made him do that video,” Caliendo concluded.
Osimhen has enjoyed a strong start to life in Turkey, providing four assists in his first three games. Galatasaray are keen on keeping the former LOSC Lille beyond his loan spell.