Galatasaray have reached an agreement to sign Victor Osimhen on loan after the forward was exiled from Napoli’s squad for the Serie A campaign.
Osimhen has not featured for Napoli since last season after expressing his desire to leave the club during the summer transfer window. However, the Nigeria international failed to secure a transfer as potential moves to Chelsea and Al-Hilal fell through.
Chelsea held lengthy talks with Napoli to agree a loan deal with a mandatory option to make the transfer permanent but the player’s wage demands complicated the club’s pursuit. Al-Hilal, meanwhile, agreed a fee and personal terms with Osimhen, though instead signed Ivan Toney from Brentford as the former stalled on a Saudi switch.
With the transfer window in Europe’s top five leagues having now closed, Osimhen’s future is up in the air. He has not been included in the Napoli squad for the Serie A side, while Antonio Conte’s side completed the signing of Romelu Lukaku as a replacement for the wantaway forward. Conte has said Osimhen will not be reintroduced into the side.
“No, this is the team. This is the group,” Conte said on Osimhen, as per Football Italia.
“We made decisions. I mentioned coherence before. Those who are not consistent don’t respect the rules. I repeat, respect to the club. The president proved consistent despite losing important money—credit where credit is due. The club were consistent, knowing that if the situation had unlocked earlier, we would all have been advantaged.
“As I said, we’ve started rebuilding. Good players arrived. They were on the table. It took us time to understand and think about it, but we signed them, and I am happy. We didn’t do everything, and it’s okay, but I think the club did well.”
Galatasaray make ambitious move to sign Osimhen
Galatasaray have now emerged a shock destination for Osimhen with the Turkish Süper Lig window open until September 13th. The Istanbul outfit have sent a delegation to Naples to thrash out a deal after reaching terms on a straight loan, with Osimhen’s wages covered.
Osimhen has opened the door to the move as he looks for an escape route from Napoli. Okan Buruk’s side were crowned Süper Lig champions last season with a record-breaking 102 points.
