Osimhen's teammates locked in a room for rituals by Napoli owner in drastic response to poor form

Napoli team celebrating || Credit: Imago

FOOTBALL Osimhen's teammates locked in a room for rituals by Napoli owner in drastic response to poor form

Osimhen's teammates locked in a room for rituals by Napoli owner in drastic response to poor form

Izuchukwu Akawor • 14:59 - 12.01.2024

Victor Osimhen and Napoli are struggling to defend their Serie A title and have fallen out of the title race, prompting a reaction from the owner.

SSC Napoli players have been confined to a week-long stay in a hotel by disappointed owner Aurelio De Laurentiis after falling off the title pace in the Serie A.

Victor Osimhen and his teammates ended a long wait for the Serie A title last season but have looked poor so far in their quest to defend it. 

Napoli stars locked up

The Italian champions currently sit ninth on the Serie A table, 20 points behind league leaders Inter Milan after 19 matches. 

Halfway through the 2023/2024 campaign, Osimhen’s defending champions have only managed eight wins, with seven defeats, three of which have come in the last four matches.

Victor Osimhen surrounded by Cagliari players |Photo Credit: Imago

In a drastic move, Napoli owner De Laurentiis has taken the players to a week-long retreat known as ‘ritiro’, which means ‘withdraw, according to a Daily Star report.

In a drastic move, De Laurentiis has ordered the entire squad to be locked in a hotel until their form improves.

Napoli are 20 points behind the title race.
Napoli are 20 points behind the title race. | Credit: IMAGO

The Italian league is not the only place Napoli are struggling, having crashed out of the Coppa Italia following an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Frosinone.

Nigeria’s Osimhen missed the Coppa Italia defeat as he has been on international duty with Nigeria for the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON.

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ug/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

The 25-year-old, who is the current African Player of the Year, would hope for a better outing with Nigeria’s Super Eagles when the team takes to the pitch against Equatorial Guinea in their AFCON opener on Sunday. 

Related content

Tags:
SSC Napoli Victor Osimhen Serie A