Napoli have finally reacted to an issue that has grabbed global attention about their most prized asset, and, rightly, have received criticism from the millions of football fans especially in Nigeria, who adore, Victor Osimhen – ‘Ogo Olushosun’ – for how he has been treated by the club, and for how poorly the big case was handled.

For all of Osimhen’s industry for Napoli last season, it almost feels like the case of a man and his lover, this time, viewing from the point of an average Nigerian girl, who believes men always have ulterior motives and not necessarily after love.

However, in this case, it’s a little more dicey being that, it was Napoli who actually believed in Osimhen more than any other suitor, but here is where it gets really interesting.

After conquering the world at the under-17 level and announcing himself to the world at that age, just as many other young talents, he moved to a modest club where it is believed that he will be moulded into something bigger, at least to face the football world as a much more refined player.

But his fairytale had a twist because the young forward would pass through every stage a footballer is supposed to – ‘the fire baptism’ and to feel the pain of making it to the top.

He moved from Wolfsburg to Charleroi in Belgium where he did the best he could and got him back on track, to yet another club with a knack for producing young players who would go on to become world class talents, Lille Metropole in France.

This time, the young boy from Olusosun, a suburb of Lagos state, Nigeria had announced himself once more. His exploits with Lille earned him a huge money move, although has been subject to investigation, to Napoli.

It did not quite start off well for him in Napoli, but as everyone must have known the story by now, he went on to achieve big things for the club and broke a number of records, long story short, it was the best year of his life.

Now that it has been established that Napoli also played a part in becoming who he turned out to be – top two of the best strikers on the planet, it must also be noted that Napoli were building towards winning a first scudetto in 30 years and only the third in their history.

It could be argued that Osimhen got them over the line and it was evident even in the UEFA Champions League, Napoli only had an identity when he was on the pitch, and for someone whose legacy in the club could be compared with Ronaldo’s at Real Madrid, it would be expected that the club would do everything logically possible to keep him happy.

And here is where the point of view comes in, Napoli have milked Osimhen and have actually gotten their reward, he has repaid his transfer fee and more, and so, the next challenge would be to keep him tied at the club.

The first thing the president of Napoli, Aurelio de Laurentiis, who by the way has a reputation in Europe, just as Daniel Levy in Tottenham Hotspur, a devil of a negotiator, did, was to jack up his asking price up to as high as €200 million for the striker, signalling that he would not let go…not even if the Saudis came.calling.

It was actually believed that Osimhen would make a move away from Italy as he had clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, free-spending Chelsea, Liverpool, PSG, Bayern Munich and many others on his trail, but the Nigerian who had grown in love with the city of Naples who sing his name all the time, was actually not keen on a move, at the very least, judging by his body language.

Flipping to a new season, with Lucianno Spaletti leaving the club, former Roma boss who was discharged by Saudi Arabian side, Al Nassr, Rudi Garcia was hired to fill up the void left by a Scudetto-winning coach, comical.

Almost as predicted, Napoli started the season poorly and the spotlight was on Victor Osimhen once again, this time to see if he can replicate last season’s form, which he has been doing so far, even when his said to be ‘partner in crime’, Khvicha Khvaratskelia who comically, was ‘the face of the club’ last season, had not scored a single goal since the third month of the year up until he found the back of the net in their last game.

It could be argued that two careless social media posts by the digital department of the club would never be the factor to stoke the fire of distrust between the player and the club, but with the fact that the club never really addressed the issue by releasing a joke of a statement on how their biggest asset should not see it as disrespect despite being ridiculed in the first place with subtle racism about who is the rightful prince of the city, substituting him for Khvicha, is the greatest disrespect a club could bestow it’s finest bride.

And alas, it feels like Osimhen had been served breakfast by a club he loved, his own people.

Napoli have what they want, having actually paid for it, and probably forming the bigger entity who can dictate what they want after attaining a certain height, can just have another lover to spend the night with.