Why does Victor Osimhen wear a mask on his face? Napoli Champions League star’s protective wear explained

From early accolades as a U17 World Cup Golden Boot winner to his equally successful record for Nigeria senior team and a starring role for Lille and Napoli, Victor Osimhen is rightly one of the most talked about strikers in Europe.

The former Wolfsburg and Charleroi prospect played a key role in the Serie A side’s commanding season, building a huge lead at the top of the domestic table and making it to the knockout rounds of the UEFA Champions League, trailing former champions Ajax and Liverpool away.

Most fans of the clubs Osimhen faces are familiar with the sight of him rolling away to celebrate goals and he’s also become known for appearing in a mask in recent years.

Why is Osimhen wearing a mask? The sports news explains his facial attire and examines his stats and potential future targets.

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Why is Victor Osimhen wearing a mask?

Osimhen suffered multiple facial fractures in a head impact with Inter Milan defender Milan Skriniar during a game in November 2021.

The surgeon in charge of Osimhen’s subsequent operation stated that three plates and six screws would be needed to perform the operation.

“That injury was like a near-death injury,” Osimhen later told Wazobia FM via Football Italia, discussing a procedure that forced him out of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations, which is said to have lasted three and a half hours. “I’m the only one who felt it and I can only talk about how I felt because it was my face and my body.

“When the scan came out, I had a lot of broken bones that needed to be removed and repaired internally. I have about 18 screws under my jaw. I’ve been through a lot.

“Many sleepless nights. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat because of the pain. But at the end of the day I’m a lion – and I know my mentality.

“Being able to get up without using the stretcher and walk off the pitch on my own – that’s when I knew I could handle it.”

dr Gianpaolo Tartaro said the damage could have been more serious. “The orbital bone stopped just in time because Osimhen might even have lost his sight,” he told Radio CRC of Goal.

“This bone actually could have caused other problems, but luckily a few factors helped us and the eye was able to go back into its socket.

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“The plates do not need to be removed unless there is an urgent need, for example if they develop an infection.

“When we did the operation we used the highest quality plates in the world and had to consider very carefully where to place them so that the player was protected in case he needed to head the ball.”

Upon returning to action in January 2022, Osimhen initially wore a mask covering his entire face.

He now wears a smaller mask that only covers part of his face and it reportedly came as a surprise to his teammates when he continued to wear the mask ahead of the 2022-23 season.

The mask is now intended to serve a calming purpose for Osimhen, helping him cope with the psychological trauma of a horrific injury that could have derailed his impressive career.

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Victor Osimhen Statistics 2022/23: Serie A, Champions League

Osimhen was born on December 29, 1998 in the Nigerian capital Lagos, is 1.85 m tall and weighs 78 kg.

He joined Napoli from Lille in July 2020 for a club-record €70m (£61.2m/$73.9m) which rose to €80m (£69.9m/$84m) with hammer awards.

After a promising but relatively modest tally of 10 goals in 30 appearances in all competitions in his debut season, Osimhen struck 18 times in 32 games in 2021/22.

His performances earned him the Serie A Best Young Player award at the end of that campaign, and he added to an already full list of accolades, including winning Serie A Player of the Month February 2023, in a superb 2022/23 season .

As of mid-March 2023, Osimhen was five goals ahead of Inter’s Lautaro Martinez to top the Serie A goalscorers list, with an impressive accuracy rate of 51%.

While no other player averaged more than 0.71 goals per 90 minutes, Osimhen averaged 0.93 goals per game and scored 19 goals in 22 games.

Osimhen averaged 97 minutes per goal – the next player on the list, Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman, averaged 128 minutes.

Glorious for Napoli was that one of the few players to eclipse Osimhen’s total of four assists was runaway top scorer Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, an Azzurri winger.

Kvaratskhelia, who contributed nine assists to that point, was partly responsible for Osimhen scoring 17 goals in 16 Serie A games after returning from injury in October 2022.

A goal in the 2-0 win at Empoli on February 25 made Osimhen the first player since Cristiano Ronaldo to score in eight consecutive Serie A games for Juventus between December 2019 and February 2020.

Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen scored or assisted 43 of Napoli’s 84 goals in all competitions before 15 March, accounting for 51% of their goals.

Osimhen described Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti as “a great help to me”. “He watches me closely every day and I follow his advice,” he told the club. “He helps me to become a better footballer in all areas. We have a great relationship.”

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Will Victor Osimhen leave Napoli this summer?

Osimhen’s profile and achievements have unsurprisingly attracted the attention of leading clubs keen to vie for the signature of the man who was bested only by Erling Haaland and Harry Kane in the 2022/23 season leading up to Napoli’s round of 16 second leg.

Some were interested while Osimhen made his name: In 2016, before joining Wolfsburg, Osimhen said Arsenal had wanted to sign him – and he seemed pleased to have been a target for the Gunners.

Aside from concerns about the frequency with which Osimhen has picked up injuries, the biggest stumbling block for his admirers will be his asking price.

According to Italian football expert James Horncastle, Napoli’s notoriously hard-negotiating president Aurelio de Laurentiis Osimhen will not let his club leave without a hefty sum.

That fee would be more than €100m (£89m/$105.3m) and “probably closer to” €150m (£133m/$158m), according to Horncastle – a price tag matched only by those for Kylian Mbappe and Neymar fees paid is surpassed the past.

Horncastle said only Paris St-Germain, Real Madrid or “to a certain extent” Barcelona could meet that rating, but Manchester United have been repeatedly linked with Osimhen, as have Manchester City and Chelsea.

All three Premier League clubs have the colossal financial clout to potentially pay De Laurentiis’ alleged price, but United are the club most obviously in need of an outright striker.

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Anthony Martial suffered from injuries and uncertain form while Wout Weghorst, on loan from Besiktas mid-season in 2022/23, remains unproven at this level and may not make a permanent move.

Osimhen is under contract until 2025 and earning £112,000 ($135,000) a week, according to Pulse Sports – and Napoli also reportedly want him to sign improved terms.

Last time Napoli won Serie A

Napoli have not won Serie A for more than 30 years, with their last Scudetto in the 1989/90 season.

In that successful season, they beat Inter Milan by just two points, with superstar Diego Maradona scoring a club-high 16 goals. It was only the second time that the Partenopei had become Italian champion.

Since then, Napoli have finished runners-up four times, with all of those close encounters coming in the past decade.

They came closest in 2017/18 when Juventus edged them to the title by just four points. Napoli have triumphed in 22 of their first 26 league games this season before winning just six of their last 12.