Victor Osimhen: Galatasaray’s taste of life without talisman is as bitter as Super Eagles’

Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen was nowhere near the pitch on Tuesday night, yet his shadow stretched across Galatasaray’s one-nil loss to Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League.

Even before the analysts settled in, former Watford captain Troy Deeney had hinted that the Turkish champions were missing more than energy or precision. Promise David’s second-half strike only underlined a side drained of threat without their main forward.

Osimhen has been out since hurting his hamstring in Nigeria’s World Cup playoff defeat to DR Congo, forcing him to sit out Galatasaray’s last two games. In his absence, their attack has lost its usual conviction.

This is the same player who opened the Champions League group stage with six goals in three matches, driving wins over Liverpool, Ajax and Bodo/Glimt. Without him, the tempo has dropped sharply.

Osimhen: Galatasaray’s hinge, Nigeria’s heartbeat

After the match, Deeney’s assessment was blunt. “Victor Osimhen, you can’t underplay just how important he is to the team,” he said on CBS Sports. “Yes, you’ve got Lemina and others who add certain things, but he’s one of the top five strikers in world football right now.”

Deeney stressed how difficult it is for Galatasaray to cope when he isn’t available. “You’re in this position and you lose that, you don’t have somebody you can pull from the bench or the youth team,” he said. “They need to get him back as quickly as possible for momentum and moving forward.”

The numbers support him to be honest. Osimhen has played a direct role in more than half of Galatasaray’s goals this season, while both of their Champions League defeats have come in the games he missed.

Nigeria face the same dependence. The Super Eagles failed to win any of the five World Cup qualifiers he missed, but won four of the last five he played, with six goals from the striker. He hit a hat-trick against Gabon in the playoff semi-final, and once he went off in the final against DR Congo, the team’s edge disappeared before losing on penalties.

With AFCON 2025 around the corner, his recovery has become a priority for club and country alike.