Osimhen is only Galatasaray's latest exotic trasfer

The surprise arrival of Victor Osimhen in Istanbul that night confirmed all the madness of the final days of the market, indeed the hours before the Italian football market closed, when the Napoli striker had to choose a destination that was unthinkable to say the least. When the tracks that would have led him to either Chelsea FC or Al-Ahli had disappeared, Osimhen had his back to the wall when Antonio Conte publicly dropped him from the team following the arrival of Romelu Lukaku at the Azzurri. And at that moment, the Nigerian striker turned his attention to the league, which for more than a decade, even before Saudi Arabia decided to invest in football, has become the buen retiro of many footballers who no longer find their place in the European leagues. The Turkish Super Lig, and in particular the most important club, Galatasaray, is now populated by several players who have spent part of their careers in Serie A, which will include, at least for the 2024/25 season, the former top scorer of our league before his long soap opera with Napoli reaches its closing credits.

Between the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons, the transfer windows of Galatasaray became something unique in the European landscape, establishing itself as one of the preferred destinations for players who, after seasons at the highest levels, chose to lower their ambitions to discover a new style of football and culture. Until the 2010/2011 season, the Turkish club's signings included many domestic players like Yekta Kurtuluş, Çağlar Birinci, and Musa Çağıran, who joined from Kasımpaşa, Denizlispor, and Altay SK, respectively, along with Lorik Cana, who had previously played for Lazio and Sunderland. However, from the following seasons, there was a radical change. Fernando Muslera, Emmanuel Eboué, Tomáš Ujfalusi, and Felipe Melo left Lazio, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, and Juventus, respectively, to move to Istanbul, sparking an exodus of players attracted by Galatasaray's project under the presidency of Ünal Aysal. Aysal was succeeded in 2015 by automotive entrepreneur Dursun Özbek, who was re-elected in 2022, defeating candidate Eşref Hamamcıoğlu. It was particularly the penultimate season under Aysal's leadership that gave Galatasaray an identity that still distinguishes it today, always leveraging the transfer market.

In the summer of 2012, the club signed Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba: the former, a Champions League winner in 2010, and the latter, fresh off winning the Champions League with Chelsea just a few months before the deal was finalized. The signing of these talents from Inter and Chelsea was crucial for two reasons: first, because it increased the club's appeal, attracting players like Goran Pandev, Arda Turan, Blerim Dzemaili, and Kevin Großkreutz in the following years. Secondly, because it instilled ego and confidence in the club's fans, who over the years have perhaps become overly hopeful during transfer windows, often commenting on major news outlets' posts with phrases like «Please, come to Galatasaray» or similar. In this sense, the multi-titled club has also influenced its rivals, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş, who, although never having assembled a roster as rich as Galatasaray's, have tried—and continue to try—to keep up with the strongest. It is impossible to forget signings like Anderson Talisca, Pepe, Gary Medel, Bruno Alves, Raul Meireles, Martin Škrtel, and many more.

The most curious and entertaining adventure was perhaps experienced by Lukas Podolski, former player of Arsenal and Inter, as well as a symbol of the German National Team, who took advantage of his transfer to Galatasaray to launch a new business: Mangal Döner. Although Podolski's first kebab shop was inaugurated in Cologne in 2018, the striker often stated that the choice to launch his business was a tribute to the years spent in Turkey, and this alone is enough to prove that Turkey was never a prelude to a sentiment-draining Saudi Arabia. Today, the Süper Lig—and Galatasaray in particular—has not changed its identity; in fact, it almost seems to have turned into a comedy due to a series of random events, such as the fact that several top scorers from recent Serie A seasons, like Ciro Immobile, Edin Džeko, and Mauro Icardi, are playing for the three top clubs. Just think of the Osimhen-Mertens duo, which is about to reunite following a transfer saga involving the latter that could only be described as sensational. The Turkish top league is no longer just a resting oasis—or a place of new hope—for former top players but a place that seems to have gained credibility, even though it remains a second choice compared to the major European leagues.

And the warm welcome given to the new signing Victor Osimhen solidifies the relationship with Italy, definitively overturning the animosity that arose after eliminating Juventus from the 2013 Champions League on a snowy and muddy pitch that was nearly unplayable. Describing what has been and how the last decade of Galatasaray's history has unfolded is not easy, especially since it has followed a course that is unlikely to be repeated by another club. The madness of Osimhen's last-minute transfer is consistent with the league itself: the prayers of Galatasaray fans will intensify under the comments of Fabrizio Romano's posts.