Osimhen needs miracle to be at AFCON – Surgeon

 

Professor Gianpaolo Tartaro has insisted that Napoli striker Victor Osimhen will not be fit to represent Nigeria at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations next month. He added that only a miracle would see the striker feature in Cameroon.

 

The latest medical update will come as a huge blow for Nigeria and the striker who is determined to represent the three-time champions at the AFCON.

 

Osimhen had been initially ruled out of the biggest African football showpiece, scheduled for January 9 to February 6, 2022, in Cameroon, after he suffered multiple fractures in his face following a clash with Inter defender Milan Skriniar on November 21.

 

The former Lille player resumed individual training a few weeks after his surgery and was included in Nigeria’s 28-man AFCON squad list by the Super Eagles interim boss Austin Eguavoen.

 

Tartaro, the surgeon who operated on Osimhen in November, told Corriere Dello Sport that the player needed more time to heal.

 

“For the formation of the callus bone, according to world protocols, it takes from sixty to ninety days. Unless a biological miracle,” the surgeon was quoted as saying.

 

 “If he does not do the CT scan, we will not be able to dissolve the prognosis. Reduced fractures must consolidate: I repeat, for the formation of the callus, you have to wait two or three months unless a Christmas biological miracle: but biology is not a fan.”

 

Osimhen was part of the Eagles squad that finished third at the 2019 Afcon, where Odion Ighalo emerged as the top goalscorer with five goals.