Osimhen loves Napoli, says coach Garcia after TikTok spat

Victor Osimhen of SSC Napoli looks on during the Serie A football match between Bologna FC and SSC Napoli at Renato Dall’Ara stadium in Bologna (Italy), September 24th, 2023. /Sipa.

Napoli coach Rudi Garcia has insisted that Victor Osimhen loves Napoli despite the recent brouhaha following a highly controversial video posted on the club’s official TikTok account.

The Partenopei’s TikTok handle, which has a history of posting videos with a certain tone involving their players, sparked controversy on Tuesday after posting two videos focused on Osimhen.

Napoli’s admin on TikTok had disrespected Osimhen by trolling him over his call for the penalty, which he missed in the 0-0 draw with Bologna in a Serie A match last weekend.

The other video then compared the Nigerian striker to a coconut, something that made Osimhen furious while his agent Roberto Calenda, threatened Napoli with legal action.

Osimhen, however, put all his travails aside to score for Napoli, which defeated Udinese 4-1 in a Serie A match played at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday night.

He shut his critics up by putting the Partenopei 2-0 ahead in the 39th minute courtesy of an assist from Matteo Politano before being replaced by Giovanni Simeone on 63 minutes.

Coach Garcia said he hopes Napoli can put the recent drama behind them while stating that Osimhen loves the club’s shirt, adding that nobody intended to be ‘hurtful’ with those TikTok videos.

“Over the last two days there was a bit of trouble with some clumsy behaviour. Nobody wanted to be hurtful, not the TikTok with the video of Victor, nor Victor by taking his photographs down on social media.

“Nobody intended to hurt anyone, these are instinctive reactions and are understandable,” the manager