Victor Osimhen ‘100 per cent invested’ in Napoli claims head coach Rudi Garcia after ‘clumsy’ TikTok videos led to the star’s agent threatening to sue the club

Napoli boss Rudi Garcia has insisted star striker Victor Osimhen ‘loves the jersey’ and is committed to the club, despite his relationship with the reigning Serie A champions deteriorating over controversial TikTok videos.

Osimhen started and scored Napoli’s second goal in their 4-1 win over Udinese on Wednesday.

The Nigeria international ended the wait for a goal but decided not to celebrate as his relationship with the club deteriorated.

Napoli’s social media accounts caused controversy in the build-up to the match after posting videos on their Tik Tok account mocking Osimhen, leading to his agent threatening to take legal action.

Garcia admitted before the match that the posts had made the run-up to the match ‘difficult’.

The Frenchman stressed after Napoli’s win that Osimhen is fully committed to the Italian champions, despite the striker deleting almost all Instagram posts of him wearing the club’s shirt.

Garcia also played down reports of a feud with Osimhen, despite the striker’s striking outburst after being substituted in a goalless draw against Bologna on Sunday.

“I can assure you that Victor loves this jersey,” Garcia said Football Italy. ‘He invests 100 percent in our project.

‘I have a very good relationship with Victor. I’m happy for him because he scored tonight.

‘After the match in Bologna we were all frustrated and angry, especially Victor, because he missed the penalty. On a sporting level and at other levels, especially on TikTok, there has been a lot to arrange in recent days.

‘There has been some clumsy behavior over the past two days. No one wanted to offend, not the TikTok with Victor’s video, nor Victor by posting his photos on social media.

‘No one intended to hurt anyone, these are instinctive reactions and understandable. It’s his social media account, he can do whatever he wants with it.’

The first TikTok video posted by the club was about his penalty miss in Sunday’s goalless draw against Bologna.

The video showed the 24-year-old pushing for a penalty, but he used a strange, sped-up voice with the caption “Give me a penalty please” before showing him firing the penalty wide of the post.

Osimhen’s agent Roberto Calenda threatened legal action against the club, stating in a tweet on Tuesday: ‘What happened today on Napoli’s official profile on the TikTok platform is not acceptable.

‘A video mocking Victor was first made public and then, but now belatedly, removed.

‘A serious fact that causes very serious harm to the player and contributes to the treatment the boy undergoes in the last period between media trials and fake news.

“We reserve the right to take legal action and take any useful initiative to protect Victor.”

A second video, reportedly from the club’s account, was widely circulated on social media after the first TikTok video.

The post compared Osimhen to a “coconut,” which is widely seen as a racial slur.

Napoli returned to victory despite the controversy, with Piotr Zielinski putting the hosts ahead from the penalty spot before Osimhen struck.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Giovanni Simeone, who came on as a late substitute for Osimhen, scored either side of a solo try from Udinese’s Lazar Samardzic to seal a 4-1 victory.

The result moved Napoli to fifth place in Serie A after six games, four points behind leaders Inter.

The controversial social media posts before the match had raised doubts over Osimhen’s future at the club.

Osimhen, who scored 26 goals last season to help the club end their 33-year wait for the Scudetto, is expected to be of interest to Saudi Arabia clubs in January.

It is known that Real Madrid and Chelsea are interested in the attacker.