Victor Osimhen is set to miss Galatasaray’s opening Champions League match of the season after suffering a right adductor injury.
The Nigeria striker is expected to be out for between two and three weeks after medical examinations revealed a moderate-to-advanced injury involving bleeding and a strain, according to his club.
Osimhen will therefore miss Galatasaray’s trip to Sporting CP on Wednesday, 9 September, when the Turkish champions begin their Champions League league-phase campaign.
The injury is a setback for the forward, who had made an impressive start to the new season. Osimhen has scored six goals in four Turkish Süper Lig appearances and has also provided two assists.
He was on target again in Galatasaray’s 3-2 win against İstanbul Başakşehir on Friday, opening the scoring in the 16th minute.
However, his involvement in the match was cut short after he felt pain in his adductor. Osimhen asked to be substituted and was replaced by Barış Alper Yılmaz in the 33rd minute.
Galatasaray eventually secured all three points after Gabriel Sara scored a late winner to complete the 3-2 victory.
The club’s subsequent medical assessment confirmed the extent of Osimhen’s injury and provided a projected recovery period of two to three weeks.
His absence is also likely to be felt by Nigeria, with the forward’s anticipated recovery period overlapping with the Super Eagles’ next two Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches.
Nigeria are scheduled to play Madagascar at home on 25 September before travelling to Guinea-Bissau four days later.
If Osimhen follows the expected recovery schedule, he is likely to miss both international fixtures.
That would leave Nigeria coach Eric Chelle without one of the country’s most important attacking options for the two matches.
Chelle could face another selection problem in attack, with Trabzonspor striker Paul Onuachu also reported to be unavailable after sustaining an injury during his club’s 5-0 victory over Gençlerbirliği on Sunday.
Osimhen’s latest injury also interrupts his pursuit of a major milestone with the Super Eagles.
The Galatasaray striker has scored 35 goals for Nigeria and is only two behind Rashidi Yekini’s record of 37 international goals.
Yekini scored his 37 goals for Nigeria between 1984 and 1998 and remains the country’s all-time leading goalscorer.
Osimhen had therefore been closing in on a record that has stood since Yekini’s international career ended, but his current injury means his immediate focus will be on rehabilitation rather than adding to his tally.
Despite the setback, the striker is expected to recover in time for Galatasaray’s next Champions League fixture.
The Turkish champions are due to welcome Barcelona to Istanbul on 13 October for their second league-phase match.
That gives Osimhen a potential return date several weeks after the Sporting CP game and provides Galatasaray with hope that their leading attacking player will be available for the meeting with the Spanish club.
For now, however, Galatasaray must prepare for their Champions League opener without a striker who had been in excellent scoring form.
His six league goals in four appearances had helped underline his importance to the team, while his latest goal against İstanbul Başakşehir had appeared to maintain that momentum before the injury forced him off.
The diagnosis means Galatasaray will have to manage the opening stage of their European campaign without Osimhen, while Nigeria must also prepare for its upcoming AFCON qualifiers with uncertainty over the striker’s availability.
The two-to-three-week recovery estimate provides an indication of when Osimhen could return, although his immediate priority will be to recover fully from the adductor problem.
For a player chasing both club success and Yekini’s international goals record, the injury represents an untimely interruption to an otherwise strong start to the season.
