Napoli Football Club has announced their Nigerian star striker, Victor Osimhen won’t return to Italy as he tested positive for COVID before boarding from Nigeria.
Osimhen has been included in the Nigeria squad list for the Africa Cup of Nations but was expected to return to Naples to assess his cheekbone injury on Friday, December 31, Football Italia reports.
Osimhen had been ruled out for three months, but had he received the green light from doctors, he could have played in the Africa Cup of Nations wearing a protective mask.
However, the swab test he underwent in Nigeria before boarding on Thursday came back positive, so the player didn’t leave his native country.
The Partenopei wrote on their English Twitter account that Dr Gianpaolo Tartaro, the professor who had performed the surgery last month, would check the player tomorrow.
Nevertheless, they provided a different explanation on their Italian account, saying that the medical check has been postponed and that ‘local’ (Nigerian) authorities have issued an isolation order for the 23-year-old.
Osimhen also tested positive for COVID one year ago, when he returned to Nigeria to celebrate his birthday.
