01.10.2025 21:02
Galatasaray football player Victor Osimhen scored a goal that led his team to victory against Liverpool. The English media outlet The Athletic heavily criticized almost all of the top English clubs for not signing Osimhen while they are searching for elite strikers.
Galatasaray defeated the English team Liverpool 1-0 in the second week of the UEFA Champions League. Victor Osimhen scored the goal that led his team to victory against Liverpool.
OSIMHEN CAUSED A CRISIS IN ENGLAND
After the match, many English media outlets, especially The Athletic, criticized English teams for not signing Victor Osimhen while they continued their search for a striker during the summer transfer window.
'WHY DIDN'T THEY SIGN HIM?'
The Athletic reporter Nick Miller became one of those criticizing English clubs by writing a striking article about Victor Osimhen.
Here is Nick Miller's article titled 'Why didn't Premier League clubs sign Osimhen?';
"Did Premier League clubs miss an opportunity by not signing Victor Osimhen? Galatasaray's head coach Okan Buruk said in an interview with The Athletic about his club's record transfer, Victor Osimhen, 'We spent a lot of money.' 'It was almost a miracle for a Turkish team to sign a player for 75 million euros.'
"Is 'miracle' a bit exaggerated? Perhaps. However, for a club that has not paid more than 20 million euros (17.5 million pounds; 24 million dollars) for a single player before this summer, it is clear that they should be quite convinced that they spent their money wisely.
Watching him in the Liverpool match on Tuesday night provided further evidence that the club made a smart investment.
Osimhen scored the winning goal — let's admit it was from a penalty — but this was arguably one of the less impressive aspects of his performance. For the remaining 72 minutes he was on the field, Osimhen posed a threat to the Liverpool defense by making intelligent runs and sharp interceptions, creating opportunities for himself and his teammates. The lob he attempted after noticing Alisson's position was just a few centimeters away from being one of the season's most beautiful goals.
He missed some excellent opportunities and at times lacked a bit of sharpness, but he was a complete nightmare for the opposing teams, and he did all this even though he was not 100% fit: Buruk did not decide until the last minute whether he would play.
Galatasaray had the chance to try Osimhen before buying him, as the player had a very successful loan season at Galatasaray in the 2024-25 season. Last season, he scored 37 goals in 41 matches for the Turkish champion: The winning goal he scored against Liverpool on Tuesday was his third goal in five matches this season and his sixth goal in six matches against English clubs.
This goal was a penalty, and he scored the other four goals against Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City in the Europa League (his sixth goal was against Chelsea in the Champions League in 2019). However, this raises the question: If he continues to score against English teams, why didn't an English team sign him?
Osimhen was highly sought after in the transfer market during the summer. After his initial loan period ended, he was not going to return to his parent club Napoli. The team that found the necessary money would have a good opportunity to sign him.
However, despite most of the elite clubs in the league being in search of a forward, no Premier League club seriously considered him.
Before the match, Arne Slot was asked about the possibility of Liverpool signing him, but according to Liverpool Echo, the coach rejected the possibility as they wanted Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak. A reasonable answer. Arsenal needed a striker, but instead signed Viktor Gyokeres: Given the cartoonish goal tally in Portugal, this could also be a reasonable decision, but the only thing that proved the Swedish player could score at the highest level was his two seasons at Sporting CP. While Osimhen was scoring freely in Italy, Gyokeres was not getting playing time at Brighton.
Then there’s Chelsea. They signed Liam Delap and Joao Pedro, but neither has the pedigree of Osimhen. Manchester United preferred promising young player Benjamin Sesko, but he also does not have the achievements of the Nigerian player. Newcastle United claimed they were not looking for a forward to replace Isak, but they would have been better off taking more time to find a more proven backup than Nick Woltemade, accepting that their star players would leave. Is there anyone with suggestions on who they could sign?
All of this may seem a bit reductionist. The queue for Osimhen's transfer was relatively short, and there were many reasons for that.
Cost was one of them. Even for Premier League clubs, 75 million euros is a huge amount, and even after endless negotiations with Galatasaray, Napoli did not budge on the price. As we will learn shortly, his salary is also very high.
The Africa Cup of Nations is also a factor to consider: Premier League clubs are not hesitant to sign African players, but some are reluctant to make such a big expenditure knowing that the player may not be able to play for a significant portion of December and January.
Injuries are also a concern: Osimhen has already missed five matches this season, had to leave the Liverpool match early, and has had ongoing muscle issues throughout his career.
There are also other questions regarding reliability: Osimhen had an extraordinary performance in the season when Napoli won Serie A in 2022-23, but despite a number of mitigating factors, he lost his form the following season. For many, a season in which he played against Konyaspor and Göztepe is not a convincing answer to these questions.
However, other reasons may not withstand such rigorous scrutiny. Some Premier League clubs did not seriously pursue him due to doubts about Osimhen's character: at least one of the clubs evaluating the transfer received some negative reports.
However, those who have worked with him in Turkey say only good things about him, on the condition of remaining anonymous to protect their relationships.
Osimhen quickly became an important part of the locker room during his loan period and has continued to be so after the transfer became permanent.
And even if you ignore these references, you can easily assume that Galatasaray would not make a big expenditure for a player who would poison the locker room.
Recently, while watching television, Osimhen saw a news story about a child who underwent a significant surgery in Turkey's capital, Ankara. As the child slowly woke up from anesthesia, he imagined/hallucinated that Osimhen appeared at the head of his bed. Upon hearing this story, Osimhen invited the child and his family to Galatasaray's training ground and gifted him a signed jersey that he wore in a match.
Again, a relatively modest act of sacrifice does not mean that those negative character reports are completely false, but likewise, it does not show that he is someone who would instantly demoralize your club.
After all, Osimhen was transferred permanently to Galatasaray for several reasons. First, he was clearly comfortable from a professional standpoint: the Super League is not particularly strong, but who doesn't enjoy scoring so many goals?
Secondly, a strong bond formed between him and the fans in the stands at Rams Park. Okan Buruk stated to The Athletic, "He loved our fans, and they loved him back. There was really a great bond between them. He was very happy here."
The third factor was money. Osimhen is paid around 15 million euros a year, and in addition, 5 million euros are paid for image rights, meaning he earns about 400,000 euros a week. Considering that, due to tax laws in Turkey, he would only pay 20% of this money to the state, it is understandable why life in Istanbul began to seem so attractive.
However, it was reported that during the summer, Al Hilal, the Saudi Pro League team that was Galatasaray's main competitor for his transfer, made him an offer almost double that, so the only reason for him to go to Turkey was not money.
Perhaps he could have been persuaded to transfer to the Premier League for a lower fee. During the summer, most elite clubs needed an elite striker, and he was just the right player for them. There were many arguments against Osimhen's transfer, but those in favor were more numerous. Just ask Liverpool.