Osimhen battles injury record amid possible Napoli exit

<p>Victor Osimhen could make his return from another injury lay-off this weekend when Napoli take on Atalanta in the Serie A.</p>, <p>The 24-year-old has not featured for the Italian champions since he picked up a hamstring problem while on international duty with Nigeria in October.</p>, <p>According to TransferMarkt, Osimhen has suffered 14 different injuries in 7 years, leading to conversations about him being injury-prone.</p>, <p>But Seyi Babalola, the ex-Media Lead at Key To The City Lagos, insists that Osimhen’s intense style is responsible.</p>, <p>“Given that he’s had about 14 different reasons to miss games in the last seven years, you won’t be amiss to say he is injury-prone.</p>, <p>“Although the nature of most of his injuries seem to have to do with impact. Which could have more to do with his physical style of play than being “injury prone” in the traditional sense of the word,” Babalola tells DAILY POST.</p>, <p>Since that time, Osimhen has missed key fixtures for Napoli and the Super Eagles.</p>, <p>His absence was keenly felt as Nigeria began their quest to be at the 2026 World Cup with successive 1-1 draws against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.</p>, <p>Head coach, Jose Peseiro, named Osimhen as one of the players he missed.</p>, <p>When asked whether the absence of some squad members contributed to the Eagles’ failure to defeat Zimbabwe, Peseiro said: “We missed Osimhen, Ndidi, Taiwo, Zaidu, Chukwueze but I think we had enough to beat Zimbabwe.”</p>, <p>The three-time African champions will not need Osimhen until January, when the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off.</p>, <p>But for Napoli, his return is very timely.</p>, <p>The Partenopei’s last two results – a 1-1 draw with Union Berlin in the Champions League and a 1-0 home defeat to Empoli – proved to be the final nail in Rudi Garcia’s coffin.</p>, <p>During the international break, he was replaced by Walter Matarazzi.</p>, <p>Matarazzi will be hoping to get Osimhen and indeed Napoli back on track, as they seek to replicate their form which led to a