'Osimhen is not a one-man show' - Frustrated fans slam Galatasaray after painful UCL loss without €75m Super Eagles star

Galatasaray fans have expressed deep frustration with the club’s squad planning following a painful 1-0 Champions League defeat to Union Saint-Gilloise on Tuesday, a result made all the more bitter by the absence of their €75 million star signing, Victor Osimhen.

Osimhen, sidelined with a minor strain sustained during an unproductive international break with Nigeria’s Super Eagles, missed the match that saw Union Saint-Gilloise deliver a stunning upset at Rams Park. 

The Belgian side’s Nigerian-born Canadian forward, Promise David, scored the only goal just before the hour mark, leaving Galatasaray and their fans reeling. The home side’s challenges worsened when Arda Unayacc was sent off late in the game, forcing Galatasaray to finish with ten men.

Fans quickly voiced their anger, pointing to the club’s failure to adequately prepare for the campaign, especially given Osimhen’s injury-prone reputation. 

One supporter lamented, “How did we end up with the narrowest squad in history, despite spending a Turkish football record of €170 million? They only signed players like Mario Lemina and İlkay Gundogan because fans pressured them—otherwise, they’d avoid spending except on costly marquee names. People find talents for €3-5 million; we buy for €40 million only to get injured players. They call that scouting success? You have no place to sleep!”

Another fan blasted the lack of depth: “If your squad is that narrow, you can’t build a team when three players are injured. Even if you set up barely, you have no substitutes. Osimhen is not a one-man show; he’s a talent who could lift the team with the right cast. We’ve only won matches because of him. There is nothing else.”

While Galatasaray reevaluate their approach ahead of the January transfer window, fans hope the club learns from this costly defeat and corrects course before the season slips further away. 

The chorus of discontent is clear: investing big isn’t enough if the team lacks depth and strategic foresight, especially when their marquee player remains injury-prone.