'There were options in Saudi, Chelsea' - Galatasaray's Spanish coach reveals it was easy to sign Osimhen

Galatasaray's Spanish coach Ismael Garcia Gomez has made an interesting revelation about the club's signing of Victor Osimhen in the summer.

The Lion assistant manager has revealed that it was easy for the club to acquire the services of the Super Eagles forward despite the failure of Premier League side Chelsea and oil funds-backed club Al-Ahli to get him on their books.

The Blues were linked all summer with the 25-year-old but despite claims that they had dropped their interest in him, they attempted till the closure of the transfer window to get him, but all to no avail.

Al-Ahli were the closest to getting his signature, but a change of stance from Napoli prevented the deal from happening, and the Saudi Pro-League side made do with signing Ivan Toney from Brentford.

Galatasaray then stepped in to take the 25-year-old on a loan with the club manager Okan Buruk persuading him to move to Istanbul.

Gomez reiterated the influence of Buruk in getting the Nigerian striker and admitted that there was no difficulty in persuading him to make a move to the RAMS Park.

"We all know his summer was a bit shaky, there were so many rumours, just that he was definitely not staying [at] Napoli," Garcia Gomez told BBC Sport.

"There were options in Saudi, Chelsea, I don't know exactly what happened.

"But in [the] last days of [the] market there was an option for us to try. I remember coming from an away game, the head coach Okan Buruk had the first call with him, when we were about to fly back to Istanbul.

"Then in two days everything was done. For the club, for the fans, it was an amazing signing to start the season."

Osimhen has netted four goals in the Trendyol Süper Lig but is yet to register one in the UEFA Europa League and will be hopeful of doing so when they clash with Tottenham Hotspur tonight.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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