Victor Osimhen fractured his forearm at Anfield on March 18, went under the knife six days later, and is now in a race against time for the biggest club fixture on Turkey’s football calendar. Prominent Turkish pundit Levent Tuzemen says he’ll make it.
The Injury That Rocked Galatasaray’s Season
It happened in the 10th minute at Anfield. Victor Osimhen went up for an aerial ball with Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté during Galatasaray’s UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg on March 18, and came down with a fractured right forearm. He tried to continue. He strapped the arm. He played through the pain for 35 more minutes before Galatasaray’s medical staff made the call at half-time.
Galatasaray lost that game 4-0 on the night, 4-1 on aggregate, and exited the Champions League. But the bigger concern, immediately, was Osimhen. Scans confirmed the fracture. Surgery was scheduled.
On March 23, he went under the knife at Maslak Acıbadem Hospital in Istanbul. Club doctor Yener İnce performed the procedure, attaching a plate to the arm and placing it in a splint. Galatasaray confirmed the operation was a success and that Osimhen was discharged shortly after.
The Man Himself Has No Doubt
Osimhen didn’t need long to address the situation publicly. Speaking on a Twitch livestream with Nigerian social media personality Carter Efe, he laid out his own recovery timeline with the calm of someone who’s been through a great deal worse.
“It will take a maximum of five to six weeks. Six weeks at most, and I will be back to football. Most of the time, it’s four weeks, then two weeks for you to train alone, gradually regain your fitness, and then you join the team,” he said.
He also drew perspective from his own medical history: “I still have about 18 screws in my face from the previous operation, and I can’t even eat normally on the right side. This injury is just a minor thing compared to what I’ve been through.”
He went further. In a private conversation with Galatasaray president Dursun Özbek, Osimhen’s message was direct: “Don’t worry, President. I will be on the field, and we will be champions.”
Tuzemen Backs the Return
Prominent Turkish football pundit Levent Tüzemen has publicly backed Osimhen to start in the Istanbul Intercontinental Derby against Fenerbahce on April 26, the most anticipated fixture in Turkish club football.
“Unless something unexpected happens, Osimhen will be in the starting eleven for the Fenerbahce match,” Tüzemen said. “There’s an old saying in Turkish: ‘A broken bone heals in as much time as the person’s age.’ Based on this, and valuing the technological advancements in modern medicine and believing in Galatasaray’s successful doctor, Yener İnce, I think Osimhen will be on the field in the derby.”
It’s a confident prediction, and Tüzemen isn’t alone. Galatasaray reporter Ali Naci Küçük has separately confirmed that Osimhen is on course to recover in time, and club sources have placed the probability of his derby availability at around 90 percent. As reported by FootballInNigeria.com.ng, that’s about as close to confirmed as you can get before a player is officially cleared to play.
Why April 26 Is a Title Decider
This isn’t just any derby. Galatasaray currently lead the Turkish Süper Lig by four points, with a game in hand over Fenerbahce. The April 26 clash at Rams Park could effectively settle the title. Win it, and Galatasaray take a potentially unassailable lead. Drop points, and Fenerbahce are right back in the conversation.
Osimhen has been the engine of Galatasaray’s season. In 2025-26, across club and country, he has recorded 38 goal involvements: 28 goals and 10 assists in 39 games. For the club alone, he has 19 goals and 7 assists in 29 appearances, including 7 goals and 3 assists in 10 Champions League matches. If Galatasaray are to win the Süper Lig and potentially the double, they need this man on the pitch.
Without him, coach Okan Buruk must rely on Mauro Icardi and Leroy Sané to carry the attacking load. Both are experienced. Neither is Osimhen at this level of form.
Matches He’ll Miss in the Meantime
The five-to-six-week prognosis means Osimhen will miss Galatasaray’s upcoming Süper Lig fixtures against Trabzonspor, Göztepe, Kocaelispor, and Gençlerbirliği, as well as a Turkish Cup quarter-final tie. Those are four league matches where Galatasaray will need to protect their lead without their best player.
If his recovery is delayed beyond the expected timeline, Osimhen could return only for the final two Süper Lig matches of the season: away to Kasımpaşa and at home to Antalyaspor. That would be a worst-case scenario for a club and a player who clearly have bigger ambitions for this campaign.
With the Galatasaray title race at such a critical juncture, fans looking to back Osimhen’s return and the derby outcome can take advantage of the Bet9ja YOHAIG promo code, which provides up to ₦100,000 in bonuses for bettors placing wagers on European football and Turkish Süper Lig markets.
Nigerian Football’s Biggest Storyline Right Now
Osimhen’s fitness situation is the most closely watched story in Nigerian football outside the Super Eagles camp. His club form has been extraordinary. His Champions League campaign, before the Anfield exit, produced 7 goals and 3 assists in 10 matches. He’s been operating at the very top of European football.
If he makes it back for April 26 and helps Galatasaray beat Fenerbahce to effectively clinch the title, this will be remembered as one of the great individual comeback stories of the Turkish football season. Victor Osimhen has form, motive, and now a medical team that appears confident in his recovery. Watch this space.
📌 Did You Know?
- Victor Osimhen still has approximately 18 surgical screws in his face from a 2021 cheekbone fracture he suffered while at Napoli, an injury that required him to wear a protective mask during matches for months. He referenced those screws himself when contextualising his current forearm injury.
- The Galatasaray-Fenerbahce fixture on April 26 is known as the Intercontinental Derby because Galatasaray’s Rams Park stadium is on the European side of Istanbul, while Fenerbahce’s ground sits on the Asian side, making it one of the world’s few cross-continental club rivalries.
- Osimhen’s 28 goals for club and country in 2025-26 put him on pace to surpass his best-ever single-season tally, which was 26 goals for Napoli in Serie A during the 2022-23 title-winning campaign that earned him the CAF African Player of the Year award.
- Galatasaray confirmed that Osimhen will return wearing a forearm protective splint, a custom-designed device that will immobilise the wrist and forearm during matches to prevent re-injury while allowing him to perform at full intensity.
- Maslak Acıbadem Hospital, where Osimhen’s surgery was performed, is one of Turkey’s leading sports medicine facilities and has handled numerous high-profile athlete procedures. Club doctor Yener İnce, who operated on Osimhen, is a trusted figure within Galatasaray’s medical setup.
- Levent Tüzemen, the Turkish pundit who backed Osimhen’s derby return, is one of Turkey’s most respected football analysts, having worked as a football commentator and tactical expert for major Turkish sports networks for over two decades.
- If Osimhen successfully makes the Fenerbahce derby and helps Galatasaray win the Süper Lig this season, he would become the first Nigerian player to win top-flight league titles in both Italy (Serie A with Napoli, 2023) and Turkey in consecutive top-flight campaigns abroad.
