Napoli have issued a statement insisting social media videos appearing to mock Victor Osimhen were not intended to offend the striker.
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The bizarre post on the clubās TikTok account showed footage of Osimhen appealing for the penalty in the goalless draw with Bologna on Sunday.
The clip, which has now been deleted, then showed the Nigeria international missing the spot kick.
Osimhenās agent, Roberto Calenda, slammed Napoliās social media post and has threatened legal action against the Serie A club.
Five days on from the incident, Napoli have now broken their silence in a statement where they describe the 24-year-old as a ātreasure of the clubā but with no direct apology forthcoming.
Osimhen established himself as one of Europeās most sought-after strikers last season with Manchester United and Chelsea among those who considered moves only to be priced out by Napoliās valuation which was reported to be ā¬150million.
In the statement, Napoli confirmed they rejected a number of offers, insisting those decisions demonstrate how much he is valued by the Serie A champions. Ā
āCalcio Napoli, wishing to avoid any exploitation of the issue, point out that we never wanted to offend or mock Victor Osimhen, who is a treasure of this club,ā the club said.
āAs proof of that, during the summer training retreat, the Club firmly rebuffed every offer that was received for the strikerās transfer abroad.
āSocial media, in particular TikTok, has always used an expressive form of language with a light heart and creativity, without wanting to, as in the case with Osimhen as protagonist, have any intention of insult or derision.
āIn any case, if Victor perceived any offence towards him, this was not what the club intendedā.
Following the release of the video, Osimhen removed any traces of Napoli from his social media accounts but was back in the side for Wednesdayās game against Udinese.
The Nigeria international scored his sideās second goal but made no attempt to celebrate. Napoli head coach Rudi Garcia later declared the former Lille star remains ā100 per cent invested in our projectā.
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