Osimhen Hungry For Galatasaray Success

Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen is eager to share in the success of Galatasaray as the most successful club in Turkey after leading them to the semi-finals of the 2024/25 Turkish Cup on Wednesday.

Osimhen bagged a brace in the heated Istanbul derby against Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, helping Galatasaray secure a 2-1 win in the quarter-final clash.

The Nigerian forward opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a powerful finish inside the box and then converted a penalty in the 27th minute after Mauro Icardi was brought down in the area.

Fenerbahçe pulled one back through Sebastian Szymański just before halftime, raising hopes of a second-half comeback, but Osimhen and his teammates saw out the game.
Aside from knocking their fierce rivals out of the cup competition, Galatasaray also have a six-point lead ahead of them in the Super Lig, keeping their hopes of a domestic double alive.

Osimhen, who joined the club on loan at the start of the season, says he is poised to help the club achieve success at the end of the season.

“I will make Galatasaray win the cup and get the fifth star. I have set my mind on it, and I can’t take it off,” the 26-year-old said via GalaSport.

“As I have said in previous interviews, I have really loved this club since I came here, I loved the people here, I loved the fans. I want to reciprocate their love by working hard. My teammates are also very important to me,” the Nigeria international also told the club’s official website.

“They always support me. Of course, scoring a goal in the derby was important. If my teammates had not done very important things, I would not have been able to score those goals. I am grateful to them in this regard. I want to continue my performance. I want to do everything I can for the team.

“We know that Galatasaray – Fenerbahçe matches are intense and difficult matches. It is necessary to focus from the first minute to the 90th minute. We were actually optimistic when we came.

“Unfortunately, we made our fans unhappy last week. We had to play well here to compensate for them. Now we will look at the upcoming matches and progress match by match,” he said.

Osimhen arrived in Galatasaray on loan after a failed move to Saudi Arabia plus after falling out with the hierarchy at Napoli. He also rejected a move to English Premier League side Chelsea over personal terms but has since put his summer troubles behind him.

The Nigerian is powering Galatasaray’s double mission this term with a 33-goal contribution (28 goals and five assists) in 32 games across all competitions this season.

Ahead of next summer, the 26-year-old is now the most sought-after striker in Europe.

He was linked with Barcelona some days ago, while Manchester United are said to be the frontrunner for his signature ahead of other Premier League clubs.