Victor Osimhen Omitted From Napoli’s Serie A Title Anniversary Tribute Three Years After Scudetto Triumph

Napoli marked the third anniversary of their 2023 Serie A title on May 4 with a series of throwback images shared on their official Instagram account, but the tribute conspicuously left out the striker widely regarded as the central figure in that championship campaign.

The SSC Napoli Instagram post, tagged under the #ProudToBeNapoli gallery, featured prominent members of the title-winning squad including Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia — widely recognised as the campaign’s most valuable player — South Korean defender Kim Min-Jae, and club captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo. Victor Osimhen, who contributed 26 goals to finish as Serie A’s top scorer during the 2022/23 season, did not appear in any of the commemorative content.

The Nigerian striker also netted the equaliser against Udinese on May 4, 2023 — the goal that mathematically confirmed Napoli’s Scudetto and ended a 30-year wait for the club’s third Italian top-flight title. His absence from the anniversary tribute is therefore particularly striking given the direct role he played in that decisive moment.

The omission arrives against the backdrop of a well-documented breakdown in the relationship between Osimhen and the Napoli hierarchy. Earlier in 2024, the forward publicly described what he called his “moment of no return” at the club, citing a broken gentleman’s agreement and what he characterised as a fundamental lack of institutional respect. The situation escalated when Napoli’s official TikTok account published a video that appeared to mock a penalty Osimhen had missed against Bologna, an incident the striker says triggered a torrent of online abuse directed at him.

“After the club’s TikTok, everything changed,” Osimhen said at the time, adding: “I was insulted, and no one ever apologised. I was a victim of racist insults: they treated me like a dog! I’m not a puppet.” The episode prompted Osimhen to remove all Napoli-related content from his personal social media accounts — a gesture that, in retrospect, foreshadowed the mutual erasure now playing out publicly.

Osimhen subsequently departed Naples and joined Galatasaray on loan from Napoli, where he has continued to perform at a high level. According to reports, the Turkish side has expressed interest in a permanent arrangement. During his time in Istanbul, Osimhen helped Galatasaray secure a domestic league and cup double, reinforcing his standing as one of Africa’s most prolific strikers currently active in European football.

The 26-year-old Super Eagles captain remains contracted to Napoli, meaning the two parties are yet to fully resolve the circumstances of his eventual permanent exit. Napoli’s decision not to include him in anniversary content suggests the club has no immediate interest in rehabilitating the narrative around his time at the club, despite the statistical record he left behind.

Osimhen’s 76 goals in all competitions across three seasons at Napoli place him among the most productive strikers in the club’s modern history, alongside Diego Maradona-era figures and Edinson Cavani, who departed in 2013. His exclusion from official historical content is therefore not purely a personal matter but raises broader questions about how clubs document and present their own sporting histories when relationships with key figures deteriorate.

No official statement has been issued by Napoli regarding the omission, and the club has not publicly responded to questions about Osimhen’s absence from the anniversary tribute.