Balotelli reveals Napoli chose Osimhen over him, compliments Nigerian striker as “strong”

Napoli played out a 2-2 draw against Adana Demirspor in a pre-season game that saw former Serie A golden boy, Mario Balotelli feature for the Turkish side.

Balotelli’s Adana Demirspor tested themselves against Serie A giants, Napoli led by Super Eagles marksman Victor Osimhen.

The Italian was very complimentary of the Nigerian striker to whom he has been frequently compared and made some revelations in the post-game interview.

“Victor is strong strong, a train. I am very well, physically I am very well” 31-year-old Balotelli said in praise of Victor Osimhen.

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Balotelli and Osimhen shared several moments before, during and after the game and appeared to be sharing jokes with each other.

“He is physically great and we will see more of his qualities,” Balotelli said once more giving credit to the 23-year-old Napoli striker.

Also in the game for Adana Demierspor was another Super Eagles star, Henry Onyekuru who made his debut for the club after recently joining on loan.

When asked about Napoli, the 31-year-old revealed he had always been interested in wearing the Partonopei blue but the opportunity never came.

"I have always said it would be a dream for me to play in Naples, unfortunately, I respect the president Aurelio De Laurentiis a lot but I think he never wanted to and it is for this reason that I never came to Naples, but I've always said I would have liked it,” Balotelli revealed to Sky Italia.

With the admission that he made himself available to Napoli but the president refused, it is safe to say that the club preferred Osimhen over Balotelli as they spent a club-record fee to sign the Nigerian striker in 2020.