Osimhen still out injured but Napoli start Koulibaly vs Lazio

Victor Osimhen will play no role when Lazio welcome Napoli to Stadio Olimpico for Sunday’s Serie A encounter.

The Nigeria international was expected to return to the squad at an earlier date after the management of the Blues confirmed that the former Lille star had returned to training and has been undergoing physiotherapy.

“Victor Osimhen worked on the pitch, in the gym and had physiotherapy,” read a statement from Napoli read during their preparations for a Europa League game against Real Sociedad.

“The squad was split into two groups for the session, with those who started Sunday’s game at the Stadio Ezio Scida doing recovery work in the gym.

“The remainder of the squad began with a warm-up and some passing drills, then focused on tactics, technique, building play and shooting, before finishing with a mini-match and a gym circuit.”

In the first leg of the tie against Sociedad, which ended in favour of the Italians, the Nigeria international was shown a red card by referee Craig Pawson in the third minute of added time for a second caution.

Osimhen, 22, has been on the treatment table since suffering a shoulder dislocation during Nigeria’s 4-4 draw in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sierra Leone.

He has subsequently missed the Blues’ last eight encounters, against AC Milan, Rijeka, AS Roma, AZ Alkmaar, Crotone, Real Sociedad, Sampdoria and Inter Milan.

Senegal international Kalidou Koulibaly leads Gennaro Gattuso’s team quest of returning to winning ways having made Napoli’s starting XI, while Algerian defender Faouzi Ghoulam will start from the bench.

After an impressive spell with Lille, Osimhen was snapped up by Napoli for a club-record fee of €80 million. He has since scored two goals for the team across all competitions in the 2020-21 campaign.