Osimhen seals Galatasaray loan after Napoli exile

Victor Osimhen has joined Galatasaray on a season-long loan from Napoli, the Turkish club announced on Wednesday.

Galatasaray will pay €6 million ($6.65 million) net to the 25-year-old Nigeria international for the 2024-2025 season, the club said in a statement, with Napoli adding that the agreement lasts until the end of June.

Osimhen signed a contract extension with the Italian club last December through to 2026 with a reported release clause of €130 million.

Napoli have also reached an agreement with Osimhen that means they retain an option to extend his contract until 2027, the Serie A club said in a statement.

Osimhen, 25, had been the subject of considerable transfer interest from around Europe this summer, but Chelsea‘s and Paris Saint-Germain‘s attempts to sign the forward fell short and he has instead sealed a temporary move to the Turkish Super Lig.

The Nigeria international was also heavily linked with Al Ahli, with sources telling ESPN that Napoli had accepted an €80 million ($88.5 million) offer from the Saudi Pro League side, but Osimhen expressed doubts about leaving European football.

Osimhen was then not included in Antonio Conte’s official 23-man Serie A squad for this season, with the Galatasaray move offering him a route back to first-team football.

While the transfer windows in many of Europe’s top leagues closed last week, the transfer window in Turkey is open until Sept. 18.

Osimhen joined Napoli in 2020 and played 133 games for the Serie A club, scoring 76 times.

In 2022-23, he helped the team win their first Scudetto since 1990, scoring 26 times that term, though his output stuttered in an injury-affected 2023-24 campaign as Napoli finished 10th.

Galatasaray are in this season’s revamped Europa League under the stewardship of Okan Buruk.

The Istanbul-based club have won all three of their games to begin the 2023-24 league campaign, trailing Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce by a point with a game in hand.

Information from ESPN’s James Olley and Reuters contributed to this report.