The African Footballer of the Year 2023, Victor Osimhen, has been reportedly released early and arrived Nigeria in preparation for the African Cup of Nations.
According to Italian outlet, TuttoNapoli, Osihmen left his Italian club Napoli on Thursday after training and had also obtained permission from the Azzurri club.
He arrived Nigeria to feature in what will be his second Africa Cup of Nations appearance.
He debuted for AFCON at Egypt 2019 as a substitute to Odion Ighalo in the third place match with Tunisia. That match remains his only AFCON match as he did not feature in the next edition in Cameroon owing to injury.
The Super Eagles are expected to gather in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirate early in the New Year, but Osimhen reportedly headed for Nigeria to first join his family.
“At the end of today’s training, Osimhen was given a day’s leave so that he could join his family before leaving for the national team training camp,” the SSC Napoli said in a statement.
The former Lille man is suspended in the league and would not feature in the match against Monza.
Also, Super Eagles striker Sadiq Umar has reportedly called short his holidays in Nigeria to return to Spain on the orders of his La Liga club Real Sociedad.
The striker was seen in various social media postings enjoying quality time in his hometown of Kaduna with his pretty daughter Aisha.
A source close to the striker told SCORENigeria that “Sadiq has returned to Spain. He will feature for his club in a match (away to Getafe) on January 2 before he joins up with the Super Eagles for the AFCON.”
This will be his second AFCON after he also featured at the 2021 tournament in Cameroon last year.
The Super Eagles will open training camp in Dubai in time for the submission of a final squad to the AFCON on January 3, 2024.
