Costacurta posits Osimhen injury is good news but stats says otherwise
Napoli have two pretty good replacements in Giacomo Raspadori and Giovanni Simeone
Italy and AC Milan legend Alessandro Costacurta legend has described injury to Super Eagles forward Victor Osimhen as good news.
Osimhen sustained an injury during international duty and will miss at least the first leg against AC Milan in the Champions League. Something that the Rossoneri should be ‘delighted’ about.
According to Napoli president he will miss the league encounter on Sunday and the first leg in the UCL.
Speaking to Sky Italia, as cited by MilanNews, Milan legend Costacurta was asked about the heavy blow for Napoli. He stated that the Rossoneri should be delighted about the fact that the striker won’t be there.
“As a player I would think about it and be delighted. He’s one of the best in Europe. The substitution in Napoli-Atalanta made me smile, when Osimhen didn’t want to sub in the 85th minute. Players must understand that when managers make choices, there is also a motive of preserving the condition of the player,” he stated.
Napoli have two pretty good replacements in Giacomo Raspadori and Giovanni Simeone, but it’s still a big blow to be without Osimhen of course. The latter has bagged 21 goals in the league this season and four in the Champions League.
On paper, Osimhen injury is a huge loss for the Partenopei, as he is their top scorer this season with 25 goals in 29 competitive appearances.
However, the statistics suggest Napoli not only survive in his absence, but they positively thrive without their star man.
Osimhen already sustained a muscular injury that ruled him out for much of September and October, during which Napoli still emerged with seven wins out of seven in all competition.
Even the average goals scored per game improved from 2.4 with Osimhen to 3.1 without the striker.
He was present in all three of their competitive defeats this season, along with three draws and 23 victories.
In fact, when Napoli beat Milan 2-1 earlier this season in Serie A, Osimhen was again out of action and his replacement Giovanni Simeone scored the winner.
