Victor Osimhen broke his cheekbone in a collision of heads with Inter Milan defender Milan Škriniar.
Following surgery on Osimhen, Napoli has released conflicting reports on his return date.
The African Cup of Nations 2022 is the next on the agenda for African football. The competition comes up in January in Cameroon, and all qualified countries are preparing for the tournament.
African players on the continent and abroad who will make the trip to the continental showpiece are gearing up to be in good stead when it kicks off.
One of the fears a player has towards the kickoff of a tournament is injury. Players are careful not to pick up injuries that might derail their chances of making it to the competition. Not all players are lucky. Some get trailed by bad luck and miss out due to a late injury. Some are unable to recover in time, despite putting in the work to get fit.
Nigeria are preparing for the African Cup of Nations, and all hands are on deck to make it a memorable one. The dust of the poor displays of the Super Eagles in the World Cup qualifiers is yet to settle, and the team receives another bad news. Star striker Victor Osimhen bowed to injury over the weekend when Napoli lost to Inter Milan. There is conflicting news emanating from the Italian team over the striker’s injury.
Osimhen to be out for the Nations Cup?
Victor Osimhen broke his cheekbone in a tie against Inter Milan, and the report following his surgery indicates that the star striker will miss the African Cup of Nations next year.
The Italian club reported via their website that Osimhen will be out of action for ninety days (three months) after surgery on Tuesday, November 23.
Victor Osimhen had his cheekbone and eye socket operated on Tuesday. The operation was performed by Gianpaolo Tartaro, with Dr Mario Santagata as his assistant. It was in the presence of Dr Raffaele Canonico.
The initial diagnosis by Napoli suggests that Osimhen will not be part of the Super Eagles to the African Cup of Nations taking place in Cameroon. According to the prognosis, he will not recover in time for the tournament that kicks off on January 9, 2022.
Contradicting statements
There was initial hope for Victor Osimhen that he would be able to make the African showpiece. The recent report, however, puts to nonsense the initial statements that gave Osimhen hope.
Dr Tartaro operated on the striker had initially claimed that Osimhen would be ready to play at AFCON but later contradicted his earlier statement with a different prognosis.
#Napoli Victor Osimhen injury update:
– Surgery completed to repair multiple facial & orbital fractures
– According to manager, team doctors have said Victor may only miss three to four games
– Target could be dec 19th match https://t.co/QjJWpJxOO0— Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT (@3cbPerformance) November 23, 2021
In an earlier statement, Dr Tartaro claimed that Osimhen would be able to start exercising in a week. The surgeon told Italian newspaper Il Mattino on Tuesday morning that he would be able to run in 15 days and train in six weeks.
According to SportMediaset, Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti was confident that by December 19, Osimhen would make a comeback.
With no modification to the medical bulletin issued by Napoli, the recent report suggests the earliest Osimhen could be back in action is February 20, when Napoli takes on Cagliari.
This article was most recently revised and updated 3 years ago
