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The Naples Public Prosecutor’s Office has reportedly requested a six-month extension for their investigation into the transfer of Victor Osimhen from Lille to Napoli.
The Nigerian forward joined the Partenopei in September 2020 from the Ligue 1 outfit in a deal worth €72m, plus €10m in various add-ons. The transfer caught the attention of many at the time when it was revealed that around €20m of the deal was made up through player exchanges.
The Naples Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the Nigerian striker’s move, believing that falsified capital gains may have been used in the deal.
La Repubblica details how the Naples Public Prosecutor’s Office wants an extra six months to carry out their investigation into the Osimhen transfer, believing the four relatively unknown players in the deal had inflated values.
Prosecutor Francesco De Falco, working alongside Assistant Prosecutor Sergio Amato, believes that Napoli may have produced false communications in their financial statements for July 2020 to June 2021, based on that Osimhen transfer.
Should new evidence emerge, sporting proceedings could be reopened against the Partenopei, similar to the situation Juventus are currently dealing with.
Greek goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis, who was 35 at the time of the deal, was valued at around €21m alongside youth players Claudio Manzi, Luigi Liguori and Ciro Palmieri, all of whom have since left Lille.
Meanwhile, Fabio Fulgeri, Aurelio De Laurentiis’ criminal lawyer, is confident that Napoli will receive a ‘favourable outcome’ in the investigation into Osimhen’s transfer.
€20m of that figure was made up through player exchanges, leading to questions surrounding the true values of backup keeper Karnezis and youngsters Claudio Manzi, Luigi Liguori and Ciro Palmieri, who were part of the Osimhen deal.
Speaking to Radio Crc, Fulgeri was first asked if Napoli fans should be worried about the investigation.
“It’s a question that many of you are asking me, unfortunately I’m a simple criminal lawyer, the sporting trial ended positively for our team.
“The investigations are going in the direction of a deepening for the material to be acquired, but they are going in the direction of a favorable outcome.
“We are talking about a false accounting investigation concerning the Osimhen operation. The investigation started in France.”
He touched on if there were any similarities with the Juventus capital gains case, which saw them docked 15 points by the FIGC court.
“The Osimhen case I don’t think can be compared to the Juventus case, Napoli didn’t do business with Juventus so they are not involved. If no new elements emerge everything should end well.
“An extension has been requested in order to study the material acquired, it takes the necessary time to judge the documents acquired.
“I cannot even know what the object of the verifications is, the investigations are secret, but the outlook is that the deal took place in a fair manner without falsification of the balance sheets.”
Finally, Fulgeri commented on if Napoli could face any sporting sanctions, such as a point deduction.
“Grassani is in charge of sports justice, but having already analysed the same allegations and having expressed a favourable opinion, I don’t think things can change unless new elements emerge.”