Nigerian football fans woke up this morning to a bombshell: Victor Osimhen has been
left out of the Super Eagles squad for the upcoming June friendlies against Poland and
Portugal — and the reason is a transfer saga that may be entering its final hours.
Head coach Eric Chelle confirmed in the early hours that the 26-year-old striker,
currently on the books of Turkish champions Galatasaray, will not travel with the squad.
The decision, Chelle explained, is to protect Osimhen from disruption “at the most
important commercial moment of his career.”
“Victor and I spoke at length. He is fully committed to Nigeria, but this is the window
where his future will be decided in days, not weeks,” Chelle told reporters. “Pulling him
into camp now would be unfair to him, to his current club, and to the clubs negotiating
for him.”
That admission is, in itself, news. Coaches rarely confirm a transfer is imminent —
especially one of this size. Multiple European outlets are reporting that Galatasaray
have raised their valuation of the player to a stunning €150 million after his blistering
2025/26 campaign, in which he hit 37 goals in all competitions and dragged the Turkish
side to a domestic double.
Premier League heavyweights Arsenal and Liverpool have been circling for months.
Italian giants Juventus are quietly back in the conversation. Paris Saint-Germain, freshly
crowned European champions after beating Arsenal on penalties in Budapest at the
weekend, are reportedly testing the waters as a long-term Mbappé replacement. And
Barcelona — long believed to be Osimhen’s preferred destination — are scrambling
after pivoting to a parallel pursuit of Atlético Madrid’s Julián Álvarez.
For Nigeria, the timing is brutal. The Super Eagles are heading into a critical FIFA
international window and a pair of high-profile friendlies designed to test the squad
ahead of next year’s qualifiers. Ademola Lookman is also unavailable, leaving Chelle to
rebuild his attack on the fly with players like Cyriel Dessers, Tolu Arokodare and the inform Samuel Chukwueze expected to step up.
“Of course we wanted Osimhen here,” Chelle said. “But the federation, the technical
crew and the player are aligned. Nigeria has to think about his career and his health. He
will be back when the next competitive matches come.”
The fan response on Nigerian football Twitter and TikTok has been, predictably, split.
Some accept the logic and want their star fresh for the qualifiers. Others are openly
furious, accusing the NFF of bowing too easily to a European club’s wishes. “When
other countries call up their stars, our boys are always the ones expected to skip
national duty for transfers,” one viral post on X read.
Behind the scenes, sources close to the player say a decision could come within the
next 7 to 14 days. The strongest indications point to a Premier League destination, with
Arsenal having held the most concrete discussions, though Galatasaray’s eye-watering
valuation has so far kept any deal from being finalized.
Osimhen himself has said nothing publicly. A short Instagram story posted just before
dawn — a Nigerian flag, a praying hands emoji and the words “Trust the process” —
was enough to send Naija football WhatsApp groups into overdrive.
Whatever happens next, one thing is now clear: Nigeria’s biggest football star is one
signature away from another seismic move, and the Super Eagles will have to do
without him in the meantime.
