Victor Osimhen is back in Galatasaray's plans for Friday night's Süper Lig visit of Kasımpaşa to RAMS Park, five weeks after a muscle injury knocked him out of club and country duty. The Nigeria striker returned to team training on Wednesday, but the club's doctor says nobody will take risks with him before Tuesday's Champions League date with Barcelona.
| Injury | Grade 2 muscle injury, right adductor, with a large haematoma |
| When | 4 September, 3-2 win over Istanbul Başakşehir (off after 33 minutes) |
| Missed | Sporting CP, Kocaelispor, Trabzonspor; Nigeria v Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau |
| Back in training | Wednesday 7 October |
| Next games | Kasımpaşa (Friday), Barcelona (Tuesday 13 October), both at RAMS Park |
Day by day
The damage was worse than it first looked. Osimhen limped off in the 33rd minute of the 3-2 win over Başakşehir on 4 September with pain in his right groin, and scans showed a grade two muscle injury with heavy bleeding. Doctors had to drain a large haematoma, working with radiologists at a partner hospital.
Patience, then.
“His injury is not something to be taken lightly,” Galatasaray doctor Yener İnce said on the club's YouTube channel. “We will assess him day by day, phase by phase. We don't want to take any risks.” İnce also explained the delay in rejoining the group. “When the player arrived here, he had an upper respiratory infection,” he said.
So Wednesday was a start. Not a finish. Osimhen joined part of the session at the Kemerburgaz Metin Oktay facilities and then went back to an individual programme with the medical staff.
A cameo, not a comeback
Turkish daily Yeniçağ reported that Okan Buruk does not plan to start his top scorer against Kasımpaşa, and that a run of around half an hour off the bench is the likeliest outcome if the game allows it. Treat that as a test of the groin. Nothing more. Barcelona come to Istanbul four days later.
The numbers explain the patience. Before the injury Osimhen had six goals and two assists in four league matches. That is eight goal involvements. Galatasaray sit second in the table, and they want him whole for the run of league and European games that follows.
Three games went by without him.
What it means for the Super Eagles
Nigeria felt the absence more. Osimhen withdrew from Eric Chelle's squad when his recovery ran slower than hoped. He continued his rehab in Lagos, and Taiwo Awoniyi took his place. The results were poor. The Eagles beat Madagascar 2-1, lost 3-0 in Guinea-Bissau and then fielded a debut-heavy side in a 3-3 friendly draw in Russia, a run that dropped Nigeria four places to 30th in the latest FIFA ranking and down to sixth in Africa, behind Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria and Côte d'Ivoire.
The next competitive test is the AFCON 2027 qualifier against Tanzania in November. That gives Osimhen a month of club football to rebuild his sharpness.
For a player whose rise we followed in our Osimhen and Davido piece, the next few days matter. Minutes on Friday, then a fitness call before Barcelona. Nigeria will be watching both.
Closely.
This article was most recently revised and updated 12 seconds ago
