Napoli President Faces Prosecutors Over Victor Osimhen’s Transfer

The president of Napoli, Aurelio De Laurentiis, faced prosecutors earlier this week over the transfer of Victor Osimhen from French Ligue 1 side, Lille.

President De Laurentiis and his lawyer, Fabio Fulgeri, were at the FIGC prosecutor’s office in Rome on Wednesday, April 3. The club’s president was reportedly questioned for 90 minutes by deputy prosecutor Giuseppe Cascini over the deal that brought Victor Osimhen to the club in 2021.

In the said year, Napoli reportedly paid Lille €76,356,819 to sign Osimhen. The amount includes the market value of four other players who moved from the Italian club to the French club as part of Osimhen’s deal.

Reports claimed that the players added to the deal were valued at 20 million euros. The breakdown is as follows: Ciro Palmieri was valued at €7,026,349, Orestis Karnez was valued at €5,128,205, Luigi Liguori was valued at €4,071,247, and Claudio Manzi was valued at €4,021,762.

The Napoli president is facing legal issues because prosecutors argue that the players added to Victor Osimhen‘s deal were not worth the amount tagged. The investigators alleged that the Italian Serie A champions inflated the value of the players to help their books.

A report by the Italian publication, Il Messaggero, claimed that if Napoli are found guilty of inflating the actual value of the aforementioned players, they might face a points deduction or fine.

“There are three possible paths, a new acquittal, a fine, or a slight penalty in the rankings (league table),” the report claimed.

Note that Victor Osimhen is expected to leave Napoli this summer despite signing a contract extension with the club in December 2023, which comes with a release clause worth about €130 million.