I had to run away — Okocha's revelation casts worry over Victor Osimhen's future

Recent comments from Nigerian football icon Jay-Jay Okocha detailing how overwhelming fan adoration in Turkey nearly trapped him at Fenerbahçe have sparked anxieties regarding Victor Osimhen's long-term future at Galatasaray.

As Arsenal circles the 27-year-old striker with a reported £60 million-plus bid this summer, a growing consensus of Nigerian and European football fans fear Osimhen's immense talent could be sequestered outside of Europe's top five leagues by a club simply too infatuated to let him go.

In a recent interview on Mikel Obi's ObiOne podcast, Okocha recounted a hilariously bizarre yet cautionary tale about his successful two-year stint with Turkish giants Fenerbahçe between 1996 and 1998. 

Arriving in Istanbul at just 23 years old, the mesmerising midfielder quickly became a cult hero. The adoration reached such extremes that the club naturalised him, handing him a Turkish passport under an entirely new identity.

“They didn't want me to leave, which is a good problem. So they gave me a Turkish passport with a Turkish name,” Okocha revealed, identifying his alias as Muhammet Yavuz. He humorously recounted forgetting his own name on a flight, ignoring the cabin crew as they repeatedly welcomed a "Mr. Yavuz."

However, the love story soured when Paris Saint-Germain came calling in the summer of 1998.

“Because when PSG came, they said I'm not leaving. I can't leave, that I'm not for sale,” Okocha explained. The club's refusal to negotiate forced him to resort to drastic measures to secure his career progression. “So I had to run away. Stopped training. I said, 'I'm not going to train.'”

Ultimately, his strike forced a €12.4 million transfer to the French capital in August 1998. 

Almost three decades later, a similar dynamic is playing out across the Bosphorus with Victor Osimhen and Galatasaray.

Following a successful 2024/25 loan spell, Osimhen completed a €75 million permanent transfer from Napoli in the summer of 2025. 

Since his arrival in Istanbul, the Nigerian marksman has been treated like royalty by the Cim Bom faithful. He has justified every ounce of that hype, netting a staggering 61 goals in 75 appearances over the past two seasons and firing Galatasaray to back-to-back Turkish Süper Lig titles in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 campaigns.

The emotional connection between the player and the supporters is profound. Following a frustrating 2-2 draw against newly promoted Çorum FK on Friday, August 14, 2026, a match where Osimhen scored both goals for his side, the Nigerian international walked directly over to the club's ultras to issue a sincere apology for dropping points.

The love has influenced Osimhen so deeply that he has publicly sworn his dedication to the project. Addressing ongoing transfer rumors, he recently stated, "I'm ready to give everything for this club".

For some Nigerian fans, Osimhen's mutual infatuation with Galatasaray is becoming a genuine cause for concern. 

Many believe a striker of his world-class pedigree, who famously won the 2022/23 Serie A Capocannoniere and fired Napoli to the 2022/23 Scudetto, belongs at the absolute pinnacle of European club football.

That opportunity currently beckons. Mikel Arteta's Arsenal have reportedly sent a formal letter of interest to Galatasaray this week, with sources indicating the Premier League champions are preparing a bid exceeding £60 million.

However, much like Fenerbahçe did with Okocha, Galatasaray are digging their heels in. Club president Dursun Özbek had previously declared that the striker was not for sale, insisting he will reject any transaction that harms the team's UEFA Champions League ambitions.

With the Turkish champions outright refusing advances and the player comfortably basking in unprecedented idolisation, Osimhen's fans are left fearing the worst. 

Unless the 27-year-old is willing to orchestrate an forceful exit reminiscent of Okocha's 1998 strike, his well-deseved Premier League arrival might never materialise.