Victor Osimhen joins Galatasaray on loan: How Napoli's striker ended up with an unlikely new home

Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen has agreed to a deal with Turkish side Galatasaray and will leave Napoli on loan for the current 2024-25 season. Osimhen is now set to join Galatasaray until next summer, after the Turkish team agreed to cover Osimhen's salary for the upcoming year. Napoli and Galatasaray have agreed on a free loan deal, with no buy option included in the agreement. At the same time, Napoli and Osimhen reduced the current release clause to €75 million with the club's option to extend the deal until 2027.

The Italian team was not able to sell Osimhen during the 2024 summer transfer window. Despite agreeing on a new deal until summer 2026 last December, Osimhen decided he wanted to part ways with Napoli this summer. The Italian club agreed to let him leave, also considering he has a €135 million release clause in the contract, but the player wasn't been able to find a new team. Napoli's new manager Antonio Conte immediately understood the situation and pressured Napoli to sign striker Romelu Lukaku before selling Osimhen. 

Despite the transfer window deadline approaching, Napoli were not able to find an agreement with any club, despite the interests and the offers coming from Al-Ahli and Chelsea in particular. The Azzurri, after the end of the window, couldn't accept to have Osimhen in the roster but not available for selection, as the club excluded him from the Serie A list. 

The Nigerian was left without many choices and Galatasaray emerged in the last hours as the strongest candidate, as the Turkish transfer window was still open. Osimhen is now set to leave Napoli for one season, until the Azzurri will be able to find an agreement with another team in the summer 2025. The Osimhen saga is over, for now at least.