Napoli exclude Osimhen from Serie A squad, hand his number to new signing Lukaku

Reports filed by Fabrizio Romano suggest that the club has stripped him of his shirt number and handed it to a new signing, Romelu Lukaku.

“Victor Osimhen has been excluded from Napoli’s Serie A squad list… and also number 9 will NO longer be on his shirt.

“Napoli have decided to give number 9 to Romelu Lukaku with immediate effect,” he wrote on Twitter.

Napoli and Osimhen’s broken relationship is a result of the player’s failure to accept a move away from the club.

Osimhen, 25, was close to leaving Napoli on the transfer deadline day after the Serie A side reached an agreement with Saudi side Al Ahli, but the player could not agree on personal terms as the move hit a snag.

Chelsea was said to have submitted a loan with an option to buy bid to Napoli, but the deal collapsed as the player refused to lower his salary.

Chelsea submitted a €4 million per season guaranteed and an additional €4 million in bonuses, according to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio. It appears that the guaranteed salary is less than half of his current salary at Napoli.