Napoli manager Rudi Garcia has reacted to the loss of Victor Osimhen through injury.
Osimhen sustained a thigh injury while on international duty with Nigeria in their friendly game against Saudi Arabia which ended in a 2-2 draw.
While the 24-year-old did not need any help coming off the pitch in the 55th minute of the game mentioned above, he is now expected to be sidelined for around six weeks.
🚨🇳🇬 Victor Osimhen has sustained an muscle injury — he'll be out for around 40 days and will miss around 6 games for Napoli, reports @mattinodinapoli.
Big loss for Napoli, as during that period they will play Milan + crucial UCL games. pic.twitter.com/wFTqDaZoJ1
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) October 17, 2023
Osimhen is set to miss his side's upcoming league games against Verona, AC Milan and Salernitana, and Napoli's crucial Champions League clashes against Bundesliga outfit Union Berlin.
“We need all our players fit and ready to play and Osimhen out is a big loss for the team,” Garcia told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“He is an important player to the team and we must find a solution in his absence.”
Finding a solution in Osimhen's absence is easier said than done for Rudi Garcia's side, who have won just one of five matches in which the Nigerian has failed to score this season.
Latest Osimhen injury could not have come at a worse time for Napoli
Victor Osimhen has shown no signs of slowing down following his goalscoring heroics from last season where he led Napoli to the Scudetto.
However, The Partenopei have struggled to replicate their form from the 2022/23 campaign and are currently seven points behind Inter Milan at the top of the Serie A table.
Napoli's quest to secure consecutive league titles has taken an early hit and they could have done with having Osimhen available ahead of a congested run of matches.
The Nigerian has netted six times in 10 matches across all competitions, accounting for just under a third of Napoli's 21 goals this term.
⚽️ Best minutes per goal ratios in Europe's top 5 leagues since the start of last season:
🥇 Erling Haaland – every 79.2 mins
🥈 Kylian Mbappe – every 92.9 mins
🥉 Serhou Guirassy – every 95.3 mins
🏅 Callum Wilson – every 97.5 mins
🏅 Victor Osimhen – every 100.2 mins pic.twitter.com/0IWtCnNPvc— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) October 18, 2023
Starting with this weekend's encounter against Verona, the reigning Italian champions will take to the field six times in 31 days with little margin for error on both the domestic and continental fronts.
Off the back of consecutive defeats against Real Madrid and Fiorentina before the international break, Napoli manager Rudi Garcia is under immense pressure to save his job and his task has now been further complicated by Osimhen's injury.
Napoli simply cannot afford to fall further behind in the title race or they risk leaving themselves with too much ground to cover when their star striker returns to action.
This article was most recently revised and updated 1 year ago
