Victor Osimhen, a striker for Napoli, hopes to become the team’s “icon” if he can help his team win the Italian Serie A for the first time in more than 30 years.
The 24-year-old Nigerian, who referred to the late Argentine great Diego Maradona as a “demi-god,” claimed he would not be able to equal that status.
Maradona is still Naples’ favourite football legend.
The local team’s stadium bears his name, and he guided them to their only two league championships in 1987 and 1990.
“I don’t consider myself as an icon yet, until I achieve the objective which the club has set itself for this season,” Osimhen said while picking up an award in Rome.
However, if Napoli wins the scudetto, he said: “I think (I) have a very big chance of being named an icon.”
But, he added, “it wouldn’t compare to what Maradona has done for this club.”
Napoli is the overwhelming favourite to win the Serie A with 13 games remaining thanks to a massive 15-point lead over Inter Milan.
Winning would be a huge boost for the city in the southern region of Italy, where supporters are fervent.
In anticipation of a third championship, some street vendors are already selling mementos with the logo of Napoli and the number “three” on them.
Additionally, Easter eggs and cakes decorated with Osimhen’s distinctive face mask, which he wears on the pitch due to a face injury, are available in stores.
“It’s been 33 years since the last scudetto,” Napoli Chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis said.
“Another title could make the city go crazy, I think it is already going crazy and planning (a party) which could involve two or three million people,” De Laurentiis said.
Osimhen, who is currently in his third season at Napoli after previously playing for Lille and Wolfsburg in Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, respectively, leads Serie A in goals scored this season with 19.
He made a hint about a potential move to the English Premier League while receiving a prize from the Foreign Press Association in Rome.
He said, adding that he was currently focused on the Serie A, “I’m working so hard to make sure that I achieve my dream of playing of course in the Premier League someday.
