Victor Osimhen could not wipe the smile off his face. As he stepped off the private jet that had been lined up several hours earlier by Galatasaray in anticipation of pulling off one of the biggest transfer coups made by a Turkish club, it was well past 2am. By the time the Nigeria striker was leading supporters in a rendition of the “Galatasaray cimbom bom part” song on the streets of Istanbul nearly two hours later, most had been waiting for him all night.
Those remarkable scenes capped a whirlwind weekend for Osimhen, who had been left out of Napoli’s Serie A squad for this season on Friday and seemed to be in limbo. Although he signed a new contract in December with a salary of about €10m a year and a prohibitive release clause worth a reported €130m, the Italian club had dropped his price to €80m (£67m) plus bonuses and agreed an initial loan with an obligation to buy with Al-Ahli.
