'Obviously needs time to find his best form' - Napoli coach admits Osimhen is not yet in top condition

Napoli manager Walter Mazzarri was on media duties on Thursday before his side's Serie A meeting with Juventus at the Allianz Stadium (Torino) and one of the topics he touched on was the form of Victor Osimhen. 

The Napoli number 9 suffered a hamstring-related injury during the international break in October, against Saudi Arabia in a friendly.

It is for this reason that Osimhen has started just one of the last three games played by Napoli as his game time is being managed after his recovery from the injury that sidelined him for approximately six weeks. 

In the three matches he has played in after his recovery, the 2023 CAF African Player of the Year nominee has failed to find the back of the net but provided the game-winning assist in a 2-1 win over Atalanta in his comeback game. 

Osimhen needs to be firing on all cylinders once again if Napoli are to close the gap on leaders Inter Milan. 

"Osimhen obviously needs time to find his best form, also in terms of physical conformation," Mazzarri was quoted as saying by Napoli's official website. 

"But it's clear that even if he wasn't at one hundred percent, he can still give me great guarantees for the strength he knows how to express, even for portions of matches like has done so far after returning ."

Osimhen had a total of six goals in ten matches across all competitions before suffering the injury. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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