By Victor Kanayo
Istanbul erupted in celebration on Tuesday morning when African Player of the Year Victor Osimhen arrived for medical procedure ahead of his potential move to Galatasaray, a Turkish Super Lig club.
After the medical, Osimhen is expected to sign his loan deal with Galatasaray.
The Nigerian striker who flew into Istanbul at the wee hours of Tuesday, was welcomed to Turkey by thousands of Galatasaray fans.
According to reports, the Napoli striker is due to sign for Galatasaray in a straight loan for the season without an option to buy.
Necessary Move
Osimhen agreed to the move after being frozen out by Napoli.
The loan will include a break clause for January in the event an offer from a major club arrives.
Osimhen’s arrival kept so many fans awake through the night, and it looked like a carnival as fans at the Istanbul airport waited for the Nigerian International, in high spirit with music, and dances.
Lukaku Shows Respect
Belgian striker, Romelu Lukaku has paid respect to Victor Osimhen as he declined the number 9 shirt that the Nigerian was wearing while still in Napoli.
When he was signed on by Napoli as a direct replacement for Osimhen, Lukaku rejected the opportunity to take Victor Osimhen’s no.9 shirt after joining Napoli, despite the club having told him that he was free to do so.
Osimhen was removed from Napoli’s Serie A squad at the start of the weekend after a move away from the club collapsed in spectacular fashion on deadline day.
A short-lived update on the Serie A website had Lukaku down as Napoli’s new number nine, but he then turned out against Parma wearing the no.11 instead.
Reports from Il Mattino and Tuttonapoli on Monday claim that Lukaku refused Napoli’s offer of taking the no.9 shirt as a show of respect for Osimhen. The feeling was that even though he is not part of the Serie A squad, the no.9 jersey still belongs to the Nigeria international.
