Ahead of tonight's Champions League playoff first-leg, Osimhen discussed his time at Napoli with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“People said we argued, but it wasn’t true: I respect him a lot. A lot was expected of us, but he also gave a great deal. Some coaches help you grow first as a person and then as a footballer,” Osimhen said of Juve coach Luciano Spalletti, with whom he won a Scudetto at Napoli.
"Before negotiations with Galatasaray began, (Cristiano) Giuntoli (former sporting director of the Bianconeri) called me to bring me to Juve. But I knew that he (Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis, whom Osimhen never names) wouldn't let me go.
“I feel sorry for the fans, especially because I never spoke about what happened. Some showed up outside my house demanding explanations. We talked, and I asked them to put themselves in my shoes. After Napoli posted that video on TikTok, something definitely broke.”
A video was posted on the club's TikTok channel after Osimhen missed a penalty against Bologna in September 2023.
He continued: "Anyone can miss a penalty, anyone can be ridiculed. Napoli only did it to me, and with certain insinuations. I was the victim of racist insults and I made a decision: I wanted to leave. I deleted the photos of myself in a Napoli shirt from my Instagram and they used that to turn the fans against me. And to think that my daughter, for me, is more Neapolitan than Nigerian...”
Regarding the months following that moment, the striker states: “We had a gentleman's agreement: I could leave the following summer, but on the other hand, the promise wasn't entirely honoured. They tried to send me to play all over the place, they treated me like a dog.
"Go here, go there, do this, do that... I worked so hard to progress in my career that I couldn't accept that kind of treatment. As soon as I arrived, (Antonio) Conte called me to his office and told me that he was aware of the situation, but that, despite everything, he wanted me to stay.
"I explained that I would have liked to work with him, but by then I had already made a decision: I didn't want to continue working in a place where I wasn't happy.”