Red-hot Victor Osimhen has been ruled out of Napoli’s Europa League clash with Legia Warsaw on Thursday evening.
The Nigeria international suffered a muscle strain that saw him miss the Parthenopeans’ 1-0 triumph at the Stadio Arechi over the weekend.
The Serie A side had announced the Super Eagle’s return to training on Tuesday, dispelling fears that he could miss the blockbuster fixture against the Polish topflight side.
“After the success against Salernitana, Napoli resumed training today at the SSC Napoli Konami Training Center,” a statement from the club read.
“The Azzurri will prepare for the match against Legia Warsaw scheduled for Thursday in Poland for the fourth matchday of the Europa League.
“[Lorenzo] Insigne and [Adam] Ounas held an entire session with the team. Osimhen has done personalized work in the field. Malcuit did personalized work in the gym. Swimming pool for [Kostas] Manolas.”
Nevertheless, he did not make the cut for the game against Marek Golebiewski’s team. Also missing in action is Algeria's Faouzi Ghoulam.
Whereas, Senegal international Kalidou Koulibaly and Algeria's Adam Ounas and Fulham loanee Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa are part of the 28-man squad that boasts Andrea Petagna, David Ospina and Hirving Lozano.
“We've come here with the idea of winning because we want to advance in the Europa League. I have complete confidence in the team despite any absentees,” Luciano Spalletti told the media.
“You're always going to pick up a few niggles playing every three days. Some of the players have been rested as a precaution given all the games we've got. I have lots of players who deserve playing time and I'm sure they'll show their worth to the team.
“The substitutes have often proved decisive. With five subs, everyone has a part to play and is a potential starter. You need the whole squad to get a result."
With four points from three games, the Serie A outfit are second in Group C and anything short of victory at the Stadion Wojska Polskiego in Warsaw could cost them a place in the next round.
After an impressive spell with Lille, Osimhen was snapped up by Napoli for a club-record fee of €80 million.
He has since proven to be a bargain for the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona side. The Nigerian has been a standout player in the 2021-22 Italian topflight campaign scoring five times so far.