Napoli ‘Eye Arsenal Striker Gabriel Jesus’ As A Potential Replacement For Victor Osimhen
By: Gyang Dakwo
Italian champions, Napoli are ‘considering Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus’ as a potential replacement for Victor Osimhen.
Osimhen was a big part of the Italian side’s first Serie A title in 33 years last season, as he topped the league scoring charts with 26 goals.
The goals have continued this season, but his future at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona is uncertain after a row over the club’s TikTok.
Osimhen was the subject of two offensive clips shared on the popular social media app, with the first seemingly deriding him for missing a penalty late last month. The second then labelled him a ‘coconut’ and has been viewed as a racial slur.
His agent threatened to sue the Serie A side in the wake of the fallout and Napoli responded by insisting that no offence was intended, though they did not apologise. Napoli’s social media executive has since stepped down from his role.
According to reports in an Italian website (Calciomercato), Rudi Garcia’s side have identified Jesus as one option, along with Lille’s Jonathan David and Atletico Madrid’s Alvaro Morata.
Jesus was hampered by injuries in his first season at Arsenal but still scored 11 goals in 26 league games as they finished second in the league.
He is a key forward for the Gunners due to his pace, strength and hold-up play, although he can be wasteful in front of goal.
David has been among the brighter strikers in France over the past few seasons and scored 26 goals across all competitions for Lille last season.
At just 23, the Canada international is the youngest of Napoli’s three targets and potenitally the one with the highest ceiling.
Morata is the only one of the three with experience of Italian football after two spells at Juventus, and he is in excellent form after scoring seven goals in seven games for Atleti this season.
However, at 30 he is the oldest option and has run hot and cold throughout his career.