Victor Osimhen: I can never surpass Maradona in Napoli — Super Eagles striker calls late Argentine the GOAT
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Osimhen: Napoli’s new Maradona || Collage: Pulse Sports Image credit: Imago

Victor Osimhen: I can never surpass Maradona in Napoli — Super Eagles striker calls late Argentine the GOAT

Faruq Ibrahim 21:06 - 07.10.2023

Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen says that Maradona's legacy at Napoli is insurmountable.

Super Eagles ace Victor Osimhen has declared that Diego Maradona’s legacy at Napoli is unimpeachable, and he believes that regardless of what he goes on to achieve with the Partenopei, the late Argentine would remain the greatest player the Naples-based club has ever had. 

Osimhen: Napoli’s new Maradona

Last season, the 24-year-old led Napoli to their first league title in 33 years—the first since Maradona still plied his trade in the Italian top flight.

The 1986 World Cup winner is regarded as the greatest footballer of all time by many all around the globe, but to Argentines and Napoliteans, he is a ‘god’, and for good reasons. 

Maradona led the Albiceleste to her second Mundial triumph in 1986, and returning to Naples for the 1986/87 season, he championed the charge as the Partenopei won their first-ever league title. The former Barcelona man repeated the feat three seasons later, winning the Golden Boot as he led Napoli to their second league title.

His status at the club is absolute, and their home ground is named after him, the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.

Diego Maradona is the greatest player in Napoli history (Sports Illustrated)
Diego Maradona is the greatest player in Napoli history (Sports Illustrated)
Osimhen and his family with the Serie A title
Osimhen and his family with the Serie A title

Napoli has had many good and even great players since then, but none delivered the third for them until Osimhen in the 2022/23 season. The Nigerian striker, in Maradona 1989/90 fashion, led the Naples-based club to the Scudetto while picking up the Capocannoniere.

Nobody can surpass Maradona—Osimhen

Osimhen’s exploits have unavoidably invited comparisons with Maradona; however, in a conversation with Youtuber Korty eo, the former Lille striker believes there is no outdoing the legacy of the late Argentine, regardless of what he achieves with the club.

“Maradona for me, is the greatest of all time,” he told Korty.

“There's nothing any player can do in Napoli that can compare to what Maradona has given to them.”

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