It was a record-breaking season for Victor Osimhen, having led The Parthenopeans to their first domestic title since 1990 and finishing the season as the highest goalscorer in the league. Osimhen was named Serie A’s Attacker of the Year for his incredible performances, becoming the first Nigerian in history to be awarded the honor. Osimhen’s incredible performances earned him a spot in the Team of the Year along with three other teammates, making him a household name in Italy and beyond.

The 24-year-old couldn’t have propelled Napoli to the title all by himself without the contributions of his teammates. Major actors of the title triumph aside from Osimhen are; Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Kim Min-jae, and Giovanni Di Lorenzo.

Amongst all of the aforementioned stars, Osimhen’s name reverberates the most due to his influence on the team. However, that never had a role to play when the seasonal awards were handed out. Georgian star, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was voted Serie A’s Most Valuable Player for the 2022/2023 season ahead of the league’s Top Goalscorer, Osimhen.

Kvaratskhelia is the Player of the Season in Serie A 🙌

A standout debut season which earns him well deserved a spot in the #SerieA💎 Team Of The Season 😍#TOTS @EASPORTSFIFA @EA_FIFA_Italia pic.twitter.com/mBdhsIUw8r

— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) June 2, 2023

This occurrence however caused eyebrows to be raised amongst fans of the round leather game.

EARLY SIGNS

The Serie A Twitter account’s decision to anoint Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as the new king of Naples (Napoli) ahead of Victor Osimhen drew a flurry of angry responses from fans. 

On May 6th, the verified account uploaded a picture of Kvaratskhelia being crowned by Napoli icon Diego Maradona while he was seated in a chair fit for a king and had the Scudetto trophy to his left. 

The image was captioned with the words “A new king is crowned in Napoli”. The post quickly went viral, with over 60 thousand likes and over 13 thousand quoted retweets. The photo evoked strong emotions amongst Napoli fans and Nigerians, many of whom hailed Osimhen as the “king” of Naples.

A new king is crowned in Napoli 👑 #NAPOLISCUDETTO pic.twitter.com/C7Ktx8ECBK

— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) May 6, 2023

In reaction to the aforementioned tweet, a Nigerian Twitter user, BIG AYO responded with an edited version of the post by putting Osimhen in place of the Georgian star.

Real king has been crowned!!! Victor osimhen 🤴 pic.twitter.com/PtYOFTdCNa

— BIG AYO🔰 (@47kasz) May 6, 2023

Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia undoubtedly had a significant impact on Luciano Spalletti’s strategy and execution for winning the Scudetto. 

STATISTICS 

Osimhen had a huge role to play in this all-conquering Napoli side, scoring goals that guaranteed points for his side in the league. The Naples-based side struggled to replace the Nigerian forward whenever the Lagos born was either out injured or suspended.

In April 2023, AC Milan thrashed Napoli 4-0 with Osimhen sitting out of the tie and Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti acknowledged that the Partenopei struggled without Osimhen.

“It does become difficult without him (Osimhen), because he has this way of running into space, this physicality, he can draw everyone to him and therefore create the space for his teammates,” 

During the season, Osimhen’s goals had direct and important impacts on the results of Napoli in 11 games. The games were one-nil wins, huge margin wins, and equalizers that aided a comeback or sealed a draw.

ACCLAIMED KVARA ASSISTS  

The 22-year-old Georgian star was said to be the almighty savior of the team, creating goals and racking assists for Osimhen but that’s not close to the truth, although he did have a hand in some of Osimhen’s goals.

Osimhen scored 26 goals in 32 Serie A appearances this season and Kvaratskhelia provided only eight of them. Kvaratskhelia himself had a total of 12 goals and 13 assists in 34 league appearances this season. 

Most of Osimhen’s goals have all come due to his brilliance as a fox in the box.

ERLING HAALAND LIKE OSIMHEN  

When you hear the names of both stars, be rest assured that they have scored a match-winning goal for their respective teams. Haaland like Osimhen won the golden boot in his domestic league, scoring 36 goals and assisting eight times in 35 appearances. His goals helped the Pep Guardiola-led side retain the Premier League title, breaking multiple records in the process. The Norwegian at the end of the season became the first man to win both Premier League player and young player of the Year awards in the same season.

Asides from the 22-year-old, there was Kevin De Bruyne who had a massive influence on the team just like Kvaratskhelia had for Napoli. KDB as he’s fondly called wasn’t crowned the Premier League Player of the Season as the goal-scoring moments of Haaland were appreciated.

CHANGE OF MENTALITY

Football lovers frequently have an infatuation with silky players. a player with abilities beyond just goal-scoring. renowned for his dribbling skills, playmaking prowess, and sporadic skill-showing. But Osimhen isn’t that kind of football player. He will put the ball in the net regardless of the unusual technique utilized to deliver it to him.

Kvaratskhelia is the kind of player who thrills crowds. A player that provides more than just goals. But in a football game, goals are what is significant not the dribbles completed.

Alongside Osimhen, the Georgian was equally excellent in the race for the title, but in this instance, Osimhen simply deserved it more.