By Amaechi Agbo

SC Napoli will be without their talismanic goals scorer, Victor Osimhen when they host 4th placed AC Milan at the Diego Amanda Maradona Stadium on Sunday due to injury.

Osimhen who have scored 21 times in the Serie A played all 180 minutes during the international break with Super Eagles of Nigeria as they lost 1-0 at home but recorded similar scoreline against Guinea Bissau in a 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON qualifying double header on Friday and Monday, respectively.

Osimhen’s reported injury comes at a time Napoli is pushing for their first Serie A title in 33 years. And report in Italy claims the 24 years old picked up the injury while on national assignment.

The Partenopei announced Friday that the Nigerian star had returned from international duty complaining of discomfort in the muscle, which tests confirmed had suffered a distractive lesion.

“Osimhen has been ruled out of Napoli’s upcoming Serie A clash with Milan, scheduled for April 2, and there are concerns that he could miss more important matches in April,” football Italia stated.

There are fears, that unless less severe, the injury could take up to 12 months in recuperation.

TMW explains the nature of Osimhen’s injury, noting how an indirect muscle injury or distractive lesion is often caused by overstretching, through abrupt contractions or sudden jerk movements, or passive stretching of the muscle.

Most injuries of this type are managed with a conservative treatment plan, which could last from two to 12 weeks, depending on the seriousness of the injury and needs of the athlete.

Whilst Napoli have kept Osimhen’s condition vague, rumours leaking from the club suggest that he could be sidelined for around 15 to 20 days, which would put him at risk of missing the two Champions League quarter-final clashes with Milan and the Serie A duel with Juventus.

Napoli’s schedule for April:

April 2 – Napoli vs Milan (Serie A)

April 7 – Lecce vs Napoli (Serie A)

April 12 – Milan vs Napoli (UCL)

April 15 – Napoli vs Verona (Serie A)

April 18 – Napoli vs Milan (UCL)

April 23 – Juventus vs Napoli (Serie A)