Report: How Saudi Arabian club almost signed Victor Osimhen in January

Saudi Arabian club Al Ahli offered Napoli €80 million for the services of Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen during the January transfer window, Soccernet.ng reports.

Osimhen has been the subject of numerous transfer talks in the last two years due to his impressive performances for Napoli.

Last summer, the Super Eagles star was linked with a move to the English Premier League. There were even links with the Saudi Arabian Pro League, but none of the talks materialized. Eventually he had to move to Galatasaray in a season-long loan deal.

Osimhen has been impressive at Galatasaray, contributing 17 goals and five assists in 22 appearances for the Turkish champions. But even though he agreed to stay at Galatasaray till the end of the season, there were still a lot of speculations that he could leave at the end of the campaign.

Nonetheless, Osimhen has remained at the club and he will likely stay there till the end of the season.

Now according to Calciomercato, Osimhen could have easily left Galatasaray in January. This is as Al Ahli presented a bid of €80 million to Galatasaray which Napoli accepted, but Osimhen refused the offer despite the bumper salary.

How long does Victor Osimhen want to stay at Galatasaray?

Osimhen signed for Galatasaray due to his inability to get a move. If he hadn’t moved at the time, he would have had to move to Saudi Arabia or be out of action for five months.

For a player of his ilk who has been linked to top clubs like Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Juventus and the likes, his target would obviously be a top club. So he would likely leave Galatasaray at the end of the campaign.

Osimhen’s relationship with Napoli is already strained, so it is unlikely that he will play for them again.

Napoli want €75 million at least for Osimhen, and it is a price that most top clubs in Europe can afford. If any top club can come up with that and put a decent salary on the table, Osimhen would likely leave.