Victor Osimhen: Napoli president to stand trial over deal involving Super Eagles star

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has been ordered to stand trial over allegations of false accounting tied to the club’s financial statements between 2019 and 2021.

The case, which centres heavily on Victor Osimhen’s 2020 transfer from Lille, will move forward without affecting Napoli’s sporting status.

The charges stem from two major operations: the 2019 swap deal that brought Kostas Manolas to Naples and sent Amadou Diawara to Roma, and the more complex 2020 move involving Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen.

Prosecutors allege that Napoli inflated capital gains (plusvalenze) by assigning artificially high valuations to players included in the deals, particularly goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis and three Primavera youngsters, Manzi, Palmieri and Liguori, who were sent to Lille as part of the Osimhen package.

De Laurentiis, his associate Andrea Chiavelli, and the club itself have all been sent to trial, with proceedings scheduled to begin on 2 December 2026.

Importantly, FIGC prosecutor Giuseppe Chinè reviewed the case in 2022 and confirmed that Napoli will face no sporting sanctions, meaning their league position and points total remain untouched.

The Napoli president’s legal team strongly criticised the decision to indict him, describing it as both unexpected and unjustified.

Lawyers Gaetano Scalise, Fabio Fulgeri and Lorenzo Contrada stated: “We are absolutely astonished. There were clear grounds to acquit the defendants.”

They argued that financial investigators misapplied accounting rules and noted that even public prosecutors acknowledged Napoli did not benefit from the operations in question.

They further contended that Italy’s preliminary hearing system has “become an unnecessary step,” calling for more transparent reasoning behind decisions that send individuals and clubs to trial.

As the legal battle moves toward 2026, the transfer that brought Victor Osimhen, now a global superstar, to Naples remains a focal point of a case that continues to attract widespread attention.