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By Anthony Nlebem.
Nigeria international and Napoli striker Victor Osimhen is in a race to be fit and be available for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals against Milan on Wednesday.
Osimhen suffered a muscle injury while on international duty with Nigeria last month, during the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Guinea-Bissau and missed Napoli’s 4-0 loss against Milan at the Estadio Diego Armando Maradona fortnight ago and was also unavailable as the Partenopei recorded a 2-1 win last weekend over Lecce in a Serie A fixtures.
The 24-year-old is enjoying a fantastic season in Serie A and has become an integral part of Luciano Spalletti’s squad.
The former VfL Wolfsburg striker tops the highest goals scorer chart in Serie A with 21 goals in 23 matches and his form is powering the Partenopei to their first historic league title in three decades.
Osimhen has scored 25 goals in 29 appearances across all competitions to help Spallet ti’s side sit 16 points clear in the Serie A table and reach the Champions League last eight.
The striker trained at the Castel Volturno soccer field on Sunday and there is still some hope of being able to bring him to Milan for the Champions League quarter-final match against Pioli’s Rossoneri.
According to Sky Sports Italia, Tuesday will be a key date to know whether the Nigerian will be available in the Champions League next week.
“On Saturday Osimhen had worked out in the gym, on the treadmill. On Sunday he returned to work in the field. The certainty is that Victor is trying and will try until the last minute to be there in the first leg quarters at San Siro,” as quoted by Area Napoli.
“The player will continue his recovery work on Monday too, the intention is to have clinical tests and a decisive audition on Tuesday to be part of the list of players called up for the away match in Milan.
“Should the last test give positive signals, Spalletti could insert him among the starters for the away match at San Siro, he could initially take a seat on the bench and possibly enter the second half if there was a need, but now it is still too early to tell, but the confidence is growing.”