REGGIO NELLEMIGLIA, ITALY – FEBRUARY 28: SSC Napoli’s Victor Osimhen applauds the fans while holding the match ball after scoring a hat trick during the Serie A TIM match between USA Sassuolo and SSC Napoli on February 28, 2024 at the Mapei Stadium Città del Tricolore in Reggio Nelle Miglia, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabatini/Getty Images)
More details have emerged from the investigation into Victor Osimhen’s €70m transfer in 2020, with Napoli and Lille representatives pointing out the “risks” of the deal. “I hope they don’t accept, or we’ll have to resort to robbery.”
La Repubblica newspaper has published excerpts of WhatsApp chats between various people involved in the deal, which form the basis of an investigation that seeks to bring the case to trial for false accounting.
In the summer of 2020, Lille offered to sell Osimhen to Napoli for an effective €50 million, but added a further €20 million in an artificially inflated transfer fee for the additional player.
These turned out to be Orestis Karnegis and three players from the youth team (Luigi Liguori and Claudio Manzi worth 4 million euros each, Ciro Palmieri worth 7 million euros).
Napoli and Lille are well aware of Osimhen’s suspicions
You can read the rest of the conversation here, but La Repubblica has revealed details that show Napoli managers Cristiano Giuntoli and Andrea Chiavelli were well aware of the risks involved in the deal.
On July 17, 2020, general manager Mr. Chiavelli wrote a letter to sporting director Giuntoli: “He told me to send it, but I hope it is not accepted. Otherwise we will have to resort to robbery.”
This was accompanied by a series of emojis, but this was an early version of the transfer proposal, which was subsequently changed several times before a final agreement was reached.
Further messages were exchanged between Giuntoli and his assistant Giuseppe Pompilio, referring to Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis.
“I stay still. He told me to send it, but I hope it won’t be accepted. I have to talk to Aurelio first. What a terrorist,” Giuntoli wrote.
“This is psychological terrorism,” Pompilio responded.
“Terrorists,” Guntoli added. “Please note that we were lucky that Amrabat and Khumbulla did not want to come, otherwise we would have had to play in Petanya this season.”
This alarmed Mr. Pompilio, who reiterated the dangers of this particular transaction.
“Don’t write anything. Don’t leave any traces in your email. It’s okay to say whatever you like directly.”
Coach Pompilio again passionately pointed out to Coach Giuntoli how irregular the way he evaluated the three players on the youth team was.
It should be noted that the three were valued at a total of 15 million euros, but they never played for Lille, were quickly loaned out to teams in the third and even fourth divisions, and were eventually released from their contracts.
“These are my notes. It will take at least two to three hours to analyze the positions of the players who will be transferred. Their history will have to be downloaded from the federal system and calculated individually. I will send it to you as soon as it is completed.”
Mr. Giuntoli tried to hurry Mr. Pompilio, urging him to send a rough estimate immediately.
“Kri, believe me, I can’t understand what you just asked me. Let me work.”
Questions about Osimhen’s transfer structure as a whole were also raised within Lille’s camp, particularly by general manager Julian Moldak, who addressed them in a letter to CEO Marc Ingla.
“It is my duty to warn you of the risks involved in this transaction, based on factors that I have already discussed directly with you. Any details that are deemed ‘bizarre’ may call into question the overall agreement (compared to the five players), and we will need to provide some real answers and justifications.”
Napoli are not at risk of deducting points as the sports justice system has already cleared them of wrongdoing, but the evidence has surfaced as the Rome Tribunal seeks to adjudicate false accounting.
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