What Victor Osimhen must do to make Adnan Aybaba regret his bold prediction

Victor Osimhen does not need to say a word to Adnan Aybaba. His goals can do the talking, Afrik-Foot reports.

The Turkish football pundit has made a prediction that has quickly turned into one of the early talking points of the Süper Lig season. Aybaba believes the Galatasaray striker will finish behind Besiktas star Dusan Vlahovic and Fenerbahçe signing Romelu Lukaku in the league scoring race.

“Osimhen will lag behind Lukaku and Vlahovic. Vlahovic is a better footballer than Osimhen,” Aybaba said.

Then came the part that could haunt him if Osimhen, who will face Istanbul Basaksehir this weekend, keeps scoring at his current rate.

“If Osimhen scores more goals than these two, I’ll walk around Taksim in my underwear and paint myself black!”

Right now, Aybaba’s prediction already has a problem. Osimhen, who stayed in Istanbul despite interest from Arsenal and Barcelona, has five league goals after three matches for Galatasaray. Vlahovic has three for Besiktas, while Lukaku has none for Fenerbahce. The season is still very young, but the Nigerian has given himself an early advantage.

Osimhen has already made the first move

The 27-year-old’s five goals have come from only three league games. He scored twice in Galatasaray’s 2-2 draw with Corum FK on the opening weekend of the new campaign and then scored another two in the 4-0 win at Erzurumspor FK.

That gives Osimhen a two-goal lead over Vlahovic and a five-goal lead over Lukaku at this stage.

Vlahovic, however, has already shown why Aybaba rates him highly. The Serbian striker scored a hat trick in Besiktas’ 6-2 victory over Corum FK, taking his league total to three. His next chance to close the gap comes in the Istanbul derby against Fenerbahce on September 5.

Lukaku’s start has been much slower. He has played 50 league minutes across Fenerbahce’s first two appearances without scoring.

What the Nigerian must do to win the argument

There is no magic number that guarantees Osimhen will finish ahead because Vlahovic and Lukaku still have most of the season to score. The Super Eagles striker needs only to finish with at least one more goal than whichever of the two rivals scores more.

His early advantage gives him room for mistakes. If Vlahovic finishes with 20 goals and Lukaku with 18, Osimhen needs 21. If either striker reaches 25, Osimhen needs 26.

History suggests that a 20-goal league season would put the former Napoli forward in a strong position. He scored 26 Süper Lig goals in 30 appearances during the 2024-25 campaign and followed that with 15 goals in 22 league matches last season. Across those two seasons, he produced 41 league goals for Galatasaray.

With five goals already after three matches, Osimhen needs to keep scoring regularly rather than chase every chance. If he adds another 15 to 20 goals over the rest of the campaign, he could put serious pressure on Vlahovic and Lukaku.

Aybaba’s prediction has 31 league rounds left to prove right or wrong. The Nigeria international has already taken the first step toward making that unusual promise a reality.