Osimhen will be ‘100%’ for UCL second leg against Milan, Spalletti claims

Luciano Spalletti has given his word that Victor Osimhen will be ‘100%’ available to Napoli for the return leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie against Milan in Naples next Tuesday.

The Partenopei top scorer has been absent since the return to club football in March, having picked up an injury while representing Nigeria on international duty.

There had initially been hopes that the prolific Osimhen would be able to return in time for the first leg against Milan, but Spalletti has stated that the 25-year-old will definitely be back after a week’s delay to the original schedule.

Spalletti said: “For Osimhen, the chances of him being available are 100%. Programming has been done in that direction. Keeping him out at San Siro, not risking him in Saturday’s match against Verona will allow us to complete the work done by the doctors.”

Napoli were left without a recognised centre-forward for the game against the Rossoneri at San Siro on Wednesday evening, as back-up option Giovanni Simeone was recovering from an injury complaint of his own.

Giacomo Raspadori, who led Napoli’s line in the most recent Serie A game against Lecce, was also deemed not fit enough to start against Milan.

Instead, Elif Elmas was deployed in a slightly unfamiliar role and Spalletti admitted that he did not receive the same volume of chances a natural striker might have done on the night.

“With a striker we might have had more chances but Elmas disrupted the opponent’s build-up, forcing them to often play the ball long.

“It’s fair to say that he probably had fewer chances than a natural striker, but he forced them to play a less smooth game and we built the performance on this not untidy start for Milan. The pressure was constant and balanced.”