- Turkish football commentator Serdar Ali Celikler has explained why Victor Osimhen will remain at Galatasaray
- Top European clubs watched the Super Eagles forward join Galatasaray before reigniting their transfer interest
- Real Madrid, Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are among the clubs rumoured to be interested in him
Turkish football commentator Serdar Ali Celikler has explained why Victor Osimhen will not leave Galatasaray to join any of the clubs interested in signing him.
Osimhen joined Galatasaray permanently at the start of the 2025/26 season, having spent the previous season on loan from Italian club Napoli.
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The striker scored 37 goals and provided eight assists in all competitions, prompting the Turkish club to pay a record-breaking €75 million.
The Super Eagles had prior interest from top European clubs, including Premier League sides, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United.
Many of these clubs watched him join Galatasaray permanently before reigniting their interest in him, making his signing even more difficult.
Celikler rules out Osimhen’s exit
Serdar Ali Celikler is confident that Victor Osimhen will remain at Galatasaray next season despite interest from multiple top European clubs.
The football pundit believes that none of the interested clubs has what it takes financially or are unwilling to commit it to signing him from Galatasaray.
“No one in Europe would pay 150 million Euros in transfer fees and 21 million Euros in net salary for Osimhen,” he said on Neo Spor, as quoted by Haber Sari Kirmizi.
He believes Galatasaray’s transfer fee demands are unrealistic, and believes that at most a fee in the region of €100 million should be enough for the Turkish champions.
“If they offer between 75-100 million Euros in transfer fees, and Osimhen agrees to reduce his salary to 10 million Euros, then they could acquire him,” he added.
The salary is the biggest stumbling block to any move as the current €21 million net salary would translate to around €39 million gross because of the tax in Italy, England, Spain and other top European countries.
None of the clubs interested would be willing to pay him €750,000 per week, which would make him the highest-paid player in the top-five leagues, and he has made it clear he is unwilling to reduce his salary.
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Per Galatsaray.org, he 2023 African Footballer of the Year signed a four-year contract when he joined permanently in July 2025, and Celikler believes he will run down the deal.
“Osimhen would stay until his contract expires,” he concluded.
Osimhen, before his permanent Galatasaray move, had interest from Saudi Pro League giants, Al-Hilal, who offered as much as €45 million salary.
Many fans believe that he will spend his 30s in Saudi Arabia, as he will run down his Galatasaray contract to move to the Professional League.
Osimhen speaks about his time at Galatasaray
Legit.ng previously reported that Victor Osimhen spoke about his time at Galatasaray so far as the club where he has enjoyed the most in his career.
He has won two league titles since moving to Turkey, and despite transfer rumours, he is already looking forward to winning again next season.
Source: Legit.ng