Galatasaray put a €150 million floor on Osimhen as Berta's Arsenal sounding hits a wall
Arsenal's interest in Victor Osimhen is real, and Galatasaray have priced it accordingly. The Turkish club's vice-president, Abdullah Kavukcu, said this week that he would not sell the Nigerian striker for €150 million, and added that Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta left a recent visit to Istanbul "surprised" by the size of Galatasaray's commitment to the player.
The numbers behind that commitment help explain why the line has been drawn where it is. Osimhen earns €15 million in guaranteed annual salary, plus a €1 million loyalty bonus and roughly €5 million from image rights. In net terms, his package sits at about €21 million a year. Across the four-year deal he signed last summer, Galatasaray's total outlay on Osimhen has been estimated at €159 million.
From Napoli release clause to Istanbul stronghold
Osimhen reached Galatasaray after the club triggered the €75 million release clause baked into his Napoli contract. The shape of his current deal is markedly different. There is no exit clause this time, and anybody who wants him next has to negotiate directly with Galatasaray.
Kavukcu was careful to flag that any sale would ultimately sit with the club's president, but the floor he set is the point. €150 million is the marker, and it does not include the wage outlay a buying club would have to match or exceed.
Berta's problem
Arsenal have been linked with a centre-forward upgrade for months and Berta's trip to Istanbul turned the Osimhen interest from background noise into a concrete piece of business. The financial reality is the harder half. A buying club would need to clear €150 million for the fee, then commit to wages around the €21 million mark and absorb the loyalty and image-rights premium Galatasaray have built into his package.
That points back to the recurring question for Arsenal's summer. Mikel Arteta has spent recent seasons inching closer to the title without an elite finisher, and the search has narrowed to whether the budget stretches to a marquee number nine or whether the club pivots to a profile that arrives at less than half the price. Osimhen sits clearly in the first category. Galatasaray's valuation is the strongest argument yet that he stays in Istanbul for another year.
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