Osimhen's Shocking Move to Galatasaray: From Serie A Star to Turkish Loanee

Victor Osimhen was Napoli’s talisman in the 2022-23 season as they won their first Serie A title in 33 years. Their success made him one of the most coveted strikers in Europe. So how has he ended up out on loan in, with respect, the Turkish league just a year later?

It goes against what Osimhen himself expected of the summer 2024 window. In January, he told CBS Sports Golazo that he was ready to take the “next step” of his career. Instead, he has taken a left-field move, going from one of Europe’s top five leagues to Istanbul’s Galatasaray.

The move isn’t even a big-money permanent transfer, with the 25-year-old making a season-long loan switch to join the likes of Hakim Ziyech, Lucas Torreira and Davinson Sanchez at reigning Superlig champions Galatasaray. While long-time Crystal Palace hero Wilfried Zaha has left the club on a season-long loan to France’s Lyon, Osimhen is set to play alongside former Napoli team-mate Dries Mertens, the Italian side’s all-time top scorer.

Turkey is ranked 10th in the UEFA country coefficients, a position based on how an association’s (league’s) clubs perform across the three European competitions, behind not only the big five of England (Premier League), Italy, Spain (La Liga), Germany (Bundesliga) and France (Ligue 1), but also the top divisions in the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium and the Czech Republic.

And Galatasaray will not even compete in Europe’s top club competition this season. They lost to Swiss champions Young Boys in the Champions League qualification play-offs, so will instead take part in the Europa League. Osimhen’s loan side will face the likes of Ajax and Tottenham Hotspur in the league phase of UEFA’s second-tier tournament.

It feels like a stark drop off for Osimhen, who scored 26 goals in 32 games in that 2022-23 title-winning season. Only four players across Europe were more prolific — and it was no surprise to see him win African Footballer of the Year 2023.

Osimhen's Journey to Galatasaray: A Summer of Uncertainty

To tell the story of Victor Osimhen’s summer, you have to go back to the start of the previous season.

Osimhen had become the only African player to be crowned Capocannoniere (top scorer) in Serie A, with those 26 league goals in 2022-23, efforts that saw him finish eighth in the Ballon d’Or voting.

But his newly-found reputation came with a history. His brilliant campaign as Napoli won the league had followed inconsistent seasons. Before that 26-goal haul, he registered 10 and 14 non-penalty goals in the previous two Serie A seasons respectively. He also averaged just 22 starts a year.

His form also dipped after the title win. Napoli had three different managers last season, making the worst title defence in Serie A history. His agent considered legal action against the club when a couple of TikTok posts on the Napoli account mocked his client in a racist way. Bridges were rebuilt and Osimhen signed a new contract before Christmas, upping his pay and extending his stay until 2026.

But injuries, suspensions, the open dissent he showed Rudi Garcia, Napoli’s first manager of last season, and Nigeria head coach Finidi George (in an explosive Instagram Live), and his lengthy participation at the Africa Cup of Nations in January and February disrupted his season and diminished his value.

By the end of his 12-non-penalty-goal season for Napoli, interested parties wondered whether even matching what the Italians had paid French club Lille for him, in a controversial summer 2020 deal that led to investigations by prosecutors in Naples and Rome, was even worth it.

Even so, staying at Napoli was not an option. Just a month after that December contract renewal, Osimhen revealed he’d decided on his next step. “We already knew this last summer,” Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis said. “The negotiations over a renewal would not have been so long otherwise. We already knew he was going to Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) or the Premier League.”

The Nigerian spent the summer working on his own at Napoli’s training ground in Castel Volturno. While he was doing that, Napoli signed €150million (£126m, $166m) of players, including Chelsea’s Belgium international striker Romelu Lukaku.

Interest from PSG and Al Ahli

In the background, Paris Saint-Germain were weighing up a move. As The Athletic’s David Ornstein and Peter Rutzler reported in February, Osimhen was on their transfer shortlist after France forward Kylian Mbappe made it clear he would be leaving as a free agent this summer.

By the end of August however, Ornstein reported PSG had decided not to pursue the situation.

Saudi Arabian side Al Ahli were also interested, but Roberto Calenda, Osimhen’s agent, made clear in his response to negotiations with that club how he viewed Osimhen’s future.

“Osimhen is a Napoli player, with a contract recently renewed to our mutual satisfaction,” he posted on X. “He made history with Napoli and when there were important offers (including this year) we always accepted the club’s decisions. As I have already said, he is not a parcel to be sent far away to make room for new prophets. Victor was elected African Footballer of the Year, eighth at the Ballon d’Or, he still has a lot to say in Europe. We need respect and balance.”

“We thought we had closed a deal,” Napoli sporting director Giovanni Manna said. “But it fell through.” Al Ahli had held parallel negotiations with Brentford for their England striker Ivan Toney, and have signed him instead.

Chelsea’s Pursuit and the Window’s Closure

Chelsea then pursued a deal until the close of the window for English clubs last Friday. The Athletic’s Simon Johnson and Liam Twomey reported Chelsea were pushing for the deal in the final few weeks of the window. The west Londoners explored up to seven different structures of a pay deal for the player without success. Osimhen wanted to come, but he also wanted what he viewed as a sufficiently lucrative offer. That was outside the parameters the Premier League club operate at. Chelsea did not get far in formalising a deal with Napoli either, given the situation on personal terms.

The window then shut for most major European leagues. Turkey was one of the only countries Osimhen, who was not going to play for Napoli this campaign, could still move to.

Osimhen’s Arrival at Galatasaray: A Hero’s Welcome

He has now joined Galatasaray.

Osimhen is no stranger to playing in Europe. He has had spells with clubs in Germany (Wolfsburg), Belgium (Charleroi), France and Italy, before this move to Istanbul.

The quality of football in the Turkish league, compared to a lot of other European top-flight divisions, is questionable, but Osimhen received a hero’s welcome when he arrived to finalize negotiations.

What a welcome for Victor Osimhen as he arrives in Turkey ahead of his loan move to Galatasaray! 🥳 pic.twitter.com/bXJmTNSvYP

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) September 3, 2024

His idol, former Ivory Coast and Chelsea striker, Didier Drogba, spent a season at Galatasaray in 2013-14, although he was nine years older at the time than Osimhen is now.

With Osimhen frozen out of Napoli’s plans, Galatasaray saw an opportunity to land a highly-rated striker still in his prime. They could also offer him European football — albeit in the Europa League rather than the Champions League after failing to beat Switzerland’s Young Boys in that play-off.

It just so happened that Galatasaray striker Mauro Icardi suffered a back injury the week before they moved for Osimhen, in the team’s opening league fixture of the season. This will keep him out for several weeks.

The Super Lig side also had longer to get the deal done than other clubs across Europe who pursued Osimhen in the final days and hours of their window. Turkey’s transfer window has a later closing date of September 18.

This is a significant commitment for Galatasaray. They will pay Osimhen €6million (£5.1m; $6.7m) in wages for the rest of the season — with Napoli having covered his salary for July and August. However, they will not have to give the Serie A side a loan fee. And it is still less than they pay Icardi, who is on around €10m a season. Galatasaray had also offloaded one of their higher earners, Zaha, on loan to Lyon earlier this summer.

Osimhen’s Potential and His Recent Decline

Osimhen’s biggest issue in the past has been availability. He has played more than 27 league games in a season only once in his career and also scored 20 or more league goals just once — both in Serie A in 2022-23.

The Nigerian benefited from the break due to the 2022 World Cup that season (for which his country did not qualify), scoring 17 of his 26 league goals in 21 matches after the tournament in the November and December. He scored eight times in his 12 league appearances after the turn of the year last season, having managed nine in 16 games in 2021-22.

The drop in Osimhen’s end-product since 2022-23 can be attributed to issues on both player and system issues. His shots per 90 minutes in Serie A fell to 3.9 (from 4.6), and his non-penalty expected goals (npxG) per 90 went down to 0.5 from 0.7, while his npxG overperformance of 0.18 per 90 slid to a more sustainable 0.03.

A comparison of his charts from data company smarterscout, which give players’ games a series of ratings from zero and 99 in various metrics, from the past two seasons reflects those statistics. But it also indicates he suffered a drop in aspects such as link-up play, defensive intensity, and ball retention. The mid-season Africa Cup of Nations in January and February this year and nagging fitness issues were also factors.

Osimhen’s struggles last season were not down to him alone. Losing manager Luciano Spalletti, renowned for making good strikers great, to a sabbatical was a major blow. Napoli’s title-winning campaign was built as much on attack (with a league-best 77 goals scored) as on defence (only 28 goals conceded). Selling centre-back Kim Min-jae to Bayern Munich last summer also hurt them.

In attack, Serie A defences found a dimmer-switch for the electric Khvicha Kvaratskhelia last season, leading to a fall in goal involvements (from 25 in 2022-23 to 19). Kvaratskhelia was still one of Napoli’s best players but was made to work much harder throughout the campaign, scoring just once in his final eight league games.

In midfield, Andre-Frank Anguissa was not the same two-way force he had been the previous season, playing 300 fewer minutes in the league and recording just two assists and no goals (down from three goals and five assists in 2022-23).

Osimhen is a prototypical centre-forward in many ways. He is a high-volume shooter, an adept presser, and an aerial threat with pace to burn and the ability to effectively lead a press. However, last season was a clearer reflection of him as a player than 2022-23 had been.

He has yet to entirely exit the “on his day” and “deadly when fit” bubbles we have come to see far too often in football.

Osimhen’s Loan Move: A Chance to Rekindle his Form

Victor Osimhen could not wipe the smile off his face. As he stepped off the private jet that had been lined up several hours earlier by Galatasaray in anticipation of pulling off one of the biggest transfer coups made by a Turkish club, it was well past 2am. By the time the Nigeria striker was leading supporters in a rendition of the “Galatasaray cimbom bom part” song on the streets of Istanbul nearly two hours later, most had been waiting for him all night.

Those remarkable scenes capped a whirlwind weekend for Osimhen, who had been left out of Napoli’s Serie A squad for this season on Friday and seemed to be in limbo. Although he signed a new contract in December with a salary of about €10m a year and a prohibitive release clause worth a reported €130m, the Italian club had dropped his price to €80m (£67m) plus bonuses and agreed an initial loan with an obligation to buy with Al-Ahli.

However, Osimhen’s decision to reject that move meant the Saudi Arabian club ended up signing Ivan Toney from Brentford, and Chelsea couldn’t strike a deal over a potential loan despite Romelu Lukaku being given Osimhen’s No 9 shirt at Napoli after joining from Chelsea.

Arsenal had turned down the chance to sign Osimhen earlier in the window but his representatives still remained hopeful they could find a late solution for the reigning African player of the year. That is when Galatasaray stepped in.

“Official negotiations have begun with the football player and his club regarding the temporary transfer of professional footballer Victor James Osimhen,” read a statement released on the club’s X account at close to 1am local time on Tuesday. “It is respectfully announced to the public.” Osimhen’s arrival in Istanbul was confirmed in another post, with Galatasaray’s English-language account announcing: “The masquerade is about to start. You are all invited” in reference to the protective mask he wears when playing after an eye socket injury sustained against Inter in November 2021. On Wednesday Osimhen’s signing was confirmed.

Osimhen clearly relished his encounter with Galatasaray’s fans before heading for his medical later in the day, although there was no particular rush. Turkish clubs have an advantage over most of Europe given that their transfer window doesn’t close until 18 September. Galatasaray offloaded Wilfried Zaha – one of their highest earners – to Lyon on a season’s loan and it is understood they will cover Osimhen’s salary and not pay a loan fee. A stipulation from Napoli was that the 25-year-old must also agree to give the club an option to extend his contract by a year until 2027 and that his release clause be reduced to €75m.

The loan contract is understood to contain a break clause that could enable him to leave in January if another club meet his release clause, with Galatasaray then due compensation. That may open the door for Chelsea to revive their interest after failing to secure a new striker, with Osimhen thought to have been keen on moving to Stamford Bridge during negotiations. Arsenal appear unlikely to be in the frame despite doubts over Gabriel Jesus’s fitness and their reliance on Kai Havertz to lead the line.

Last season Osimhen struggled to replicate the form that helped Napoli end their 33-year wait for the Scudetto and brought him 26 Serie A goals in 2022-23. But he still managed 17 in all competitions in a club campaign interrupted by a hamstring injury and his Africa Cup of Nations call-up. Napoli finished 10th after the summer departure of Luciano Spalletti to the Italian national team and Antonio Conte made clear he expected Osimhen to be sold as soon as he was appointed as Napoli’s manager three months ago. He has refused to criticise the owner, Aurelio De Laurentiis, for failing to agree a deal earlier.

“Some issues blocked it; perhaps if we had unlocked that situation, we would have completed the team differently and earlier,” said the former Chelsea and Tottenham manager after their 2-1 win over Parma on Sunday. “I’m sorry about what happened. I’m sorry for Osimhen. I’m sorry that the club didn’t make some money. I am sorry for myself because we didn’t complete the team as we wanted, but the club proved to be consistent in this situation.”

For a relieved Osimhen, there is an opportunity to showcase his talents in Turkey’s top flight and the Europa League. “They came here at this time of night … I can already feel them,” he said of his reception. “I will dedicate myself for them every match.”

Victor Osimhen has joined Galatasaray on a season-long loan from Napoli, the Turkish club announced on Wednesday.

Galatasaray will pay €6 million ($6.65 million) net to the 25-year-old Nigeria international for the 2024-2025 season, the club said in a statement, with Napoli adding that the agreement lasts until the end of June.

Osimhen signed a contract extension with the Italian club last December through to 2026 with a reported release clause of €130 million.

Napoli have also reached an agreement with Osimhen that means they retain an option to extend his contract until 2027, the Serie A club said in a statement.

Osimhen, 25, had been the subject of considerable transfer interest from around Europe this summer, but Chelsea's and Paris Saint-Germain's attempts to sign the forward fell short and he has instead sealed a temporary move to the Turkish Super Lig.

The Nigeria international was also heavily linked with Al Ahli, with sources telling ESPN that Napoli had accepted an €80 million ($88.5 million) offer from the Saudi Pro League side, but Osimhen expressed doubts about leaving European football.

Osimhen was then not included in Antonio Conte's official 23-man Serie A squad for this season, with the Galatasaray move offering him a route back to first-team football.

While the transfer windows in many of Europe's top leagues closed last week, the transfer window in Turkey is open until Sept. 18.

Osimhen joined Napoli in 2020 and played 133 games for the Serie A club, scoring 76 times.

In 2022-23, he helped the team win their first Scudetto since 1990, scoring 26 times that term, though his output stuttered in an injury-affected 2023-24 campaign as Napoli finished 10th.

Galatasaray are in this season's revamped Europa League under the stewardship of Okan Buruk.

The Istanbul-based club have won all three of their games to begin the 2023-24 league campaign, trailing Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce by a point with a game in hand.

Balotelli Reacts to Osimhen's No. 45

Italian striker Mario Balotelli seems delighted that Victor Osimhen has picked the No. 45 at Galatasaray following a loan move from Napoli.

Osimhen has joined Galatasaray on a dry loan deal from Napoli and extended his contract with the Partenopei until 2027 before signing for Gala.

The Nigeria international has picked the squad No. 45 at his new club. It’s a familiar number for Italian striker Balotelli, who promptly reacted on social media.

Balotelli liked the Instagram post showing Osimhen with his new shirt and commented on it with a fire emoji.

The 34-year-old striker wore the No. 45 at many clubs in his career, including Inter, Liverpool, Manchester City, Milan, Brescia, Monza and Adana Demirspor, the last team he played for.

Balotelli is currently without a club but there are rumours that he may join Serie B side Palermo on a free transfer.

The former Inter and Milan striker has scored 52 goals in 141 Serie A matches.

I mentioned it first. 😛 45 reminded me MB45 (because if I say name comment won’t be accepted by app). 😀

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