Victor Osimhen and his club, Napoli, have been at odds for days now ever since the Serie A side’s social media team posted a TikTok video making fun of the Nigerian striker for missing a penalty against Bologna. Now, Napoli has issued a statement on the matter, but nowhere in the message do they actually apologize to Osihen.

“Calcio Napoli, wishing to avoid any exploitation of the issue, point out that we never wanted to offend or mock Victor Osimhen, who is a treasure of this club,” European football insider Fabrizio Romano tweeted in an English translation of the Italian-language statement.

“As proof of that, during the summer training retreat, the Club firmly rebuffed every offer that was received for the striker’s transfer abroad.

Social media, in particular TikTok, has always used an expressive form of language with a light heart and creativity, without wanting to, as in the case with Osimhen as protagonist, have any intention of insult or derision”.

In any case, if Victor perceived any offence towards him, this was not what the club intended”.

While Napoli says “We never wanted to offend or mock Victor Osimhen,” the statement never says the words “we’re sorry” for the Serie A club’s actions or the actions of its social media team. Time will tell if this placates Osimhen, who has removed mentions of Napoli from his own social media, had his agent threaten legal action, and refused to celebrate a goal in his last game against Udinese.

The now-deleted Napoli-Victor Osimhen TikTok that started this mess shows the striker lobbying his teammates to take a penalty with a high-pitched, squeaky voice dubbed over it saying, “Gimme penalty please”. The video then cuts to Osimhen missing the net.