The China Mail - Prosecutors want Napoli and owner to stand trial over suspected Osimhen transfer fraud

Napoli, De Laurentiis and one of his key advisors Andrea Chiavelli are suspected by prosecutors in Rome of filing falsified accounts between 2019 and 2021, with their investigation focused on the signings of Kostas Manolas from Roma and Osimhen from Lille.

The 70 million-euro deal for Nigeria striker Osimhen -- now on loan at Galatasaray -- in 2020 raised eyebrows due to four players valued at around 20 million euros moving to Lille, three of whom never played for the French club.

Napoli and De Laurentiis' lawyers said that the decision to ask for a trial was "incomprehensible".

"In the documents there are opinions from consultants and independent bodies which demonstrate incontrovertibly that Napoli acted legitimately and in compliance with Italian accounting principles," said Fabio Fulgeri and Lorenzo Contrada.

"We are convinced that the proceedings will conclude positively (for Napoli and De Laurentiis)."

A preliminary hearing judge will decide within six months whether the alleged offences are worthy of a criminal trial which would likely take years to complete.

However, a source at Napoli told AFP that the documents in the prosecutors' trial request have already been ruled as containing nothing incriminating by disciplinary authorities at Italy's football federation (FIGC).

The source said that there is "no chance" of Napoli being penalised by the FIGC even if the club were eventually found guilty in criminal courts, and added that they were confident a trial wouldn't even take place.

- Scudetto star -

Osimhen was a huge star at Napoli and one of the keys to the club winning a third Serie A title -- the first since the days of Diego Maradona -- as they romped to the Scudetto with five matches remaining in 2023.

Teaming up with breakout star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Osimhen scored 26 times in Serie A that season and confirmed his status as one of the world's best strikers.

But he soon began angling for a move away -- saying publicly that he wanted to play in England's Premier League -- and after failing to agree a deal to leave last summer he was frozen out before being ignominiously loaned to Galatasaray in September.

Osimhen's move to Italy was one of a series of transfers from the same period which were investigated by the FIGC but which ended with all defendants, including Napoli and De Laurentiis, acquitted in April 2022.

However the probe opened a can of worms and just over a year later Juventus were deducted 10 points after being found guilty of managing capital gains from transfers to artificially benefit their balance sheet.

Juve were punished thanks to new evidence from a separate criminal investigation -- named "Operation Prism" -- carried out by prosecutors into the club's accounting practices.

A raft of Juve figures including ex-chairman Andrea Agnelli were handed long bans from football and also await a decision next month over whether they will face criminal trial.

R.Lin--ThChM