Galatasaray technical director, Okan Buruk, has reaffirmed that there is a clause in Victor Osimhen’s loan transfer from Napoli that allows the player to join one of his numerous suitors during the January transfer window, The PUNCH reports.
Buruk made the assertion while fielding questions on a range of issues bordering the Turkish champions during an interview on their official website on Sunday.
He hinted at Osimhen’s promise to stay at the club till the season’s end, revealing that his transfer didn’t seem realistic at first after initial discussion with Mauro Icardi.
He said, ”Osimhen has the intention of staying here until the end of the season. He also wants to stay; he said the same thing at the beginning.
“There is a clause there, but it doesn’t matter; he said he will stay. There is a clause about transfers in January. This clause has different things.
“The important thing is the player. The player who decides. That’s why Osimhen says he will stay here. He said the same thing when he came.”
Recalling the genesis of the process of securing the services of the 25-year-old Nigeria striker, Buruk said, “We went to Milan. I go there when I have permission. I lived there for three years. I know the place; it’s food and drink… Gardi is my friend.
“We didn’t talk about football. We just sat there and had dinner. We met for two days. I went to Inter Milan; I didn’t go to the facility but to the club. We had dinner. There is someone who was in the infrastructure during my time and is now a senior manager.
“He knows all of our players. All of the players’ names were mentioned. These kinds of meetings are good. Gardi told me there was such and such a thing about Osimhen. It didn’t seem realistic at first.
“Then there was our Adana Demirspor match. We had a video call at the airport after the match. We evaluated it with the transfer committee. We took it to the president. We got the president’s approval. Then the transfer took place.”
Osimhen joined Galatasaray on the last day of the summer transfer window after late transfer negotiations with Chelsea and Al Ahly fell through. He quickly settled into life in Istanbul, having noticed eight goals and four assists in nine appearances across all competitions for the club.
