The Nigerian planned to join one of Europe's elite upon leaving Napoli, but his loan stay in Istanbul is about to be made permanent
Cristiano Giuntoli was bitterly frustrated by his failure to persuade Erling Haaland to join Napoli from Red Bull Salzburg during the 2020 winter transfer window – but not for long. By the time the summer rolled around, the Partenopei sporting director already had another gifted young striker in his crosshairs, one that Giuntoli firmly believed was "on the same level" as Haaland.
The only problem was that Victor Osimhen had also attracted the attention of Liverpool with his performances in France for Lille. Giuntoli, though, would not be denied on this occasion.
"The signing of Osimhen is Giuntoli's biggest masterpiece," former Napoli advisor Giandomenico Costi told . "[Osimhen] was essentially locked in a hotel for three days. Giuntoli knew Liverpool were interested, and Jurgen Klopp had made his move. However, Cristiano spoke to Osimhen in the hotel for three days until he convinced him to accept Napoli.
"He was full of energy. Giuntoli is a director who would call you 100 times a day. But he knew Victor very well, he had even followed him at Charleroi, and that was key."
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'Real Madrid, PSG or some Premier League team'
Giuntoli's persistence paid off spectacularly, while the €80 million (£69m/$94m) fee for Osimhen sent shockwaves through Italian football. Osimhen, after all, was still only 21 and coming off the back of one good season in Ligue 1.
However, after a slow start to his spell in Serie A, Osimhen exploded, and scored 26 times in 32 appearances during the 2022-23 season as Napoli won their first Scudetto since the days of Diego Maradona. Giuntoli's faith in the forward had been fully vindicated. Osimhen really did look like he was on Haaland's level – or not far off at least.
All he needed was the opportunity to prove himself on an even bigger stage – and, at that point, it felt like only a matter of time before one of Europe's elite came calling. In January 2024, Osimhen even revealed that he had already decided on his next move, while Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis claimed that his most prized possession would "go to Real Madrid, PSG or some Premier League team".
The latter prospect threw up the thrilling possibility of Osimhen and Haaland competing for the English top flight's Golden Boot on an annual basis. However, just over six months after Manchester City handed Haaland a gargantuan, nine-and-a-half-year contract extension worth an eye-watering £500,000 ($677,000) per week, Osimhen has found himself in the extremely surprising position of having to join Galatasaray on a permanent transfer because a puzzling lack of concrete offers from elsewhere.
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'Your offer can buy a single foot of Osimhen'
From the outside looking in, Osimhen really is a curious case – because lesser players are going for more money at the moment. Despite the fact that reliable goal-scorers are thin on the ground, not one top team from Europe's 'Big Five' leagues was willing to meet the €75m (£65m/$88m) buy-out clause in Osimhen's Napoli contract.
Liverpool, though, were only too happy to commit to a £79m ($107m) deal for Hugo Ekitike, while one cannot help but wonder why Arsenal were so intent on wrapping up a deal for the similarly-priced Viktor Gyokeres that they did not turn their attention to Osimhen, who is both younger than the Swede and more experienced at the highest level.
Of course, there's no denying that both Napoli and Osimhen have paid a price for overestimating the strength of their respective hands. De Laurentiis once scoffed at an offer from Al-Hilal worth a reported €200m (£173m/$235m), quipping: "Your offer can buy a single foot of Osimhen. For next year, I think you'll be able to offer €500m (£433m/$587m) and we'll maybe consider your offer, but I'll repeat myself: maybe."
De Laurentiis was obviously playing up for the cameras (as the notoriously flamboyant film producer so often does), but there was never a doubt in his mind that someone would activate the previous €120m (£104m/$140m) buy-out clause in Osimhen's contract during the summer of 2023. However, while the transfer market so often spirals out of control, occasionally it contracts – and that's exactly what happened last year.
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Pricing himself out of the Premier League
For starters, Saudi Pro League sides reeled in their spending after their 2023 summer spree, meaning there was less money moving about the market. Even more significantly, several English clubs, spooked by the Premier League's sudden interest in enforcing its Profit & Sustainability Rules (PSR), were suddenly reluctant to pay massive transfer fees and, more significantly, colossal salaries.
As transfer market expert Ben Jacobs tells GOAL, "Chelsea were one of the clubs interested in signing Osimhen last summer, but they needed him to fit into their incentive-driven salary structure. So, it wasn't just about the number, it was about Osimhen accepting a drop in salary if, for example, Chelsea didn't get Champions League football. He wasn't prepared to do that, so finances definitely played a part in preventing a Premier League move."
Frustratingly for Osimhen, a proposed deal with Al-Ahli also collapsed when De Laurentiis allegedly increased the asking price at the 11th hour, resulting in the Saudi Arabians walking away from the negotiating table. By that point, Osimhen's relationship with Napoli had completely broken down, meaning there was no chance of him returning to a city that had previously embraced him as one of their own.
It was all rather sad and, ultimately, both parties were left with no other option than to accept Galatasaray's offer to take Osimhen on loan for a season, given the window had closed in most of Europe's top leagues – but was still open in Turkey.
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'Still much to do in Europe'
Osimhen's year in the Super Lig couldn't have gone much better, as he finished as top scorer as Galatasaray won a third consecutive title. If anything, though, Osimhen had done too well.
His impressively prolific campaign (37 goals in just 41 appearances across all competitions) had merely underlined his status as one of the game's elite strikers. Consequently, it felt like holding onto him (which Gala were desperate to do) had only become even more difficult.
However, even though Osimhen's buy-out clause had been lowered to €75m at the behest of Napoli, he was left in limbo. Al-Hilal tried to sign him in time for their Club World Cup, but Osimhen once again rejected a move to the Middle East. He was clearly still intent on playing for a Champions League team. As his agent had previously stated, "There is still much to do in Europe for Victor."
However, his options hadn't increased. Gala remained the only European side willing to meet the buy-out clause – and it was difficult to work out precisely why.