Victor Osimhen has been greeted by thousands of Galatasaray supporters in Istanbul at well after 3am as he completes his loan move from Napoli, with a set of clauses.
The deal was done in a matter of hours after the transfer window in most European markets closed and he had been frozen out of the Napoli squad.
He was therefore allowed to leave on loan for one season for free, as long as Galatasaray covered the €10m salary.
However, Fanatik report the Turkish side are actually paying €8.8m in wages.
Osimhen lands in Istanbul
Victor Osimhen, ilk üçlüsünü çektirdi. 🙌🏻pic.twitter.com/m6AwSdUztP
— Sports Digitale (@SportsDigitale) September 3, 2024
The 25-year-old Nigeria international also insisted on a break clause in January for 10 specific top clubs, while it’s reported Napoli have agreed to lower the release clause from €130m to €80m if they have not yet completed a sale by June 2025.
As his current contract runs to June 2026, there will also be an automatic extension to June 2027 with the same salary.
Osimhen was originally meant to arrive around 00.30 local time, but it ended up being closer to 03.30.
Galatasaray taraftarı, Victor Osimhen’i bekliyor 🟡🔴 pic.twitter.com/c0N6rhmUPs
— De Marke Sports (@demarkesports) September 3, 2024
He was purchased from Lille in September 2020 for €79m, scoring 76 goals with 18 assists in 133 games for Napoli.
His medical tests will be performed on Tuesday morning, in time for him to registered in Galatasaray’s Europa League squad.
As is tradition, Galatasaray announced they have ‘started negotiations’ with Napoli for Osimhen, a step they generally only take when a deal is practically done.
The masquerade is about to start. You are all invited. pic.twitter.com/j4yV8Suzeh
— Galatasaray EN (@Galatasaray) September 2, 2024
Let him play in a lesser league to pad his stats while keeping his value up vs sitting in the stands…not the worst idea for Napoli
ADL has paid the price, he set very high release clause for Osimhen & no clubs even PSG are willing to pay that kinda money. And in most cases, players are the ones with disadvantages.
LOL Galatasaray ! ? What a mega player!