Galatasaray vice-president, Abdullah Kavukcu has suggested why the club broke Turkish football transfer record to sign Victor Osimhen on a permanent transfer from Napoli this summer.
Osimhen on Thursday became the most expensive player in the history of Turkish football.
This comes after Galatasaray triggered Osimhen’s €75m release clause to sign the Nigeria international from the Serie A champions.
Speaking on Galatasaray’s decision to sign Osimhen in a huge transfer deal, Kavukcu said (via habersarikirmizi): “We had a dream, we started talking with my president in January. After talking with my president, we talked to Victor.
“At that time, we said, ‘We want you to stay here permanently, Victor.’ He said he would stay with us. ‘Are you really going to take him?’
“We worked diligently with my president and our management. Victor truly gave up a lot to stay at Galatasaray.
“Footballers around the world would be willing to give up these figures today. The love for Galatasaray is so great, and our fans created such a strong perception and a wonderful atmosphere of affection that he didn’t want to leave.
“We didn’t just make transfers. We took Galatasaray to a different level on our path to becoming a global brand.
“Our fans have always wanted him. We expect significant support from our fans regarding Victor. Victor really wanted us, and we really wanted him.
“He, too, gave up a lot. We bought him without selling anything.”
