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Antonio Conte recently made a comment about Napoli's mediocre showing in the final third.
Following his team's 1-0 defeat to Lazio, Antonio Conte's recent comments inadvertently opened the door for Victor Osimhen's return, with a clear destination next season not yet in sight for the Nigerian.
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Napoli's attacking troubles
Despite having a good campaign so far—currently second behind Atalanta (1st), albeit with a game in hand on Inter and Fiorentina (3rd and 4th)—Napoli have left much to be desired in front of goal.
This was evident in the weekend’s defeat against Lazio, as despite their dominance, they failed to score, causing them to fall 1-0 losers to Marco Baroni’s side.
Napoli have managed to get the job done with few goals this season, as their 21 goals scored rank them 8th in the division, behind all of their rivals at the top of the table, the lowest position in the top 8th of the points log.
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What Conte said
This occasional toothlessness that reared its head in the defeat to Lazio left Conte frustrated, and he stressed that his team needed more quality in the final third.
“Today’s match also showed that we are on the right path; our idea is to attack the opponent to stop them from playing the game and create situations to hurt us,” Conte said, per TMW.
“We need to improve in this respect, we get there but the final step is missing. We are working on it, I am not disappointed with the performance, the lads gave their all, playing a good game against an excellent team.
“Lazio are not a flash in the pan, they are doing very well. I am not disappointed or dissatisfied, there are some stumbles along this path, there will probably be others, this is the team I want to see but we need to be more qualitative in the final meters.”
Napoli used to have this guarantee with Victor Osimhen—who is now on loan at Galatasaray following his conflict with the club's hierarchy—a feat his replacement, Romelu Lukaku (5 goals in 13 matches), has been unable to replicate.
As Pulse Sports reported, Napoli fans are increasingly frustrated with the Belgians' output and inability to truly replace Osimhen's goals. While there are many rumoured suitors for the Nigerian, a destination is far from certain, and with Conte’s call for more quality up front, Napoli could be forced to repair relations with the Nigerian.
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