Osimhen changed Napoli’s inferiority complex, headed to Galatasaray

He is one of the best strikers in the world, a man who led Napoli to a miracle third Serie A title, so no one imagined the transfer saga of all transfer sagas would end with Victor Osimhen set to join Galatasaray on a season-long loan.

How did a player destined to play for the elite find himself in Turkey?
Osimhen’s critics will tell you that an injury-prone player who had one extraordinary season cannot be priced as high as 130m euros (£110m), but is that argument underestimating just how much he has developed and, indeed, accomplished?

There are so many beautiful goals one could describe in delicious detail, a catalogue of skills and assists that the Nigerian has produced to leave fans salivating, yet one will always stand out – the goal even “Pele would have been proud of,” according to Brazil and Napoli legend and former Scudetto winner, Antonio Careca.
 
Named goal of the month, it was week 20 in the Serie A calendar when Napoli hosted Jose Mourinho’s Roma in January 2023 and Osimhen opened the scoring with ludicrous brilliance.
 
Controlling a cross with his chest, he allowed the ball to fall neatly onto his thigh before firing a perfect volley into the roof of the net. In the words of Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen, it was “simply lovely.”
 
The stunned spectators’ wide-open jaws served to highlight not only the skill and technique of the player but their continuous disbelief as to how one player can change a club’s fortunes so radically.
 
Osimhen made the coach, the club, and the fans believe in the miracle of winning their first title in 33 years.
 

We cannot forget the brilliance of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, or midfield maestro Stanislav Lobotka, but when Napoli were thumped 4-0 by AC Milan in the Champions