The Osimhen Aston Villa return is still on Galatasaray’s agenda — despite a warning from another Turkish journalist that the striker could be out for five weeks. Two of Turkey’s best-connected reporters are now giving two different answers on when Nigeria’s star striker will be back, and the club itself has refused to settle the argument.
Galatasaray insider Emre Kaplan told LiberoTV on Tuesday that the champions’ plan is for Osimhen to miss Sunday’s league trip to Samsunspor but return for the Champions League meeting with Aston Villa on 24 November. The briefing was carried by Daily Post Nigeria on Tuesday morning, and it restores the original three-week timeline that was in place before the latest scare.
“Galatasaray’s plan is for Osimhen to miss the Samsunspor match but return to action for the Aston Villa match,” Kaplan was quoted as saying. The same briefing carried a gloomier update on Rafael Leao, whose hamstring problem Kaplan put at “four to five weeks”, adding that the Portuguese winger will “probably struggle to make the Besiktas derby”.
Why the Osimhen Aston Villa return is now in doubt
Kaplan’s optimism landed less than a day after a very different briefing. Prominent Turkish journalist Ali Naci Küçük said on the 343 Digital YouTube channel on Monday that a detached fragment in Osimhen’s knee could stretch the recovery to five weeks — long enough to rule him out of the Samsunspor, Aston Villa and Besiktas games. That five-week warning was reported on Monday, with Küçük adding that the picture will only become clearer in 10 days.
Turkish newspaper Türkiye carried the same five-week line on Tuesday morning, reporting that Osimhen will miss all three matches and that Leao could be out for five to six weeks. The two briefings cannot both be right: either Galatasaray get their striker back for Villa Park, or they face the Champions League and the derby without him.
What Galatasaray have actually said
The club has announced no official return date. Galatasaray confirmed on Saturday that Osimhen underwent successful surgery on his left knee at Maslak Acibadem Hospital in Istanbul, performed by club doctor Yener Ince, after an MRI revealed a loose fragment. The injury was picked up in the Champions League win over Stuttgart on 3 November.
The club’s statement said only that Osimhen’s condition will be monitored through daily assessments, with treatment continuing under the medical team’s supervision. That caution is why both timelines are still live: the original three-week estimate always pointed to Villa on 24 November, and Kaplan’s briefing says that target has not moved inside the club — but Küçük’s warning shows the medical picture is less certain than it looked on Saturday.
What it means for Nigeria and Galatasaray
Whatever happens in Istanbul, Osimhen will not be in Uyo this week. The striker is out of Nigeria’s AFCON 2027 qualifying double-header against Tanzania, and Eric Chelle named his 24-man squad without him on Saturday. Ten players had already reported to camp by Tuesday afternoon, with the first training session due in the evening.
For Galatasaray, the stakes are just as high. Osimhen has scored 10 goals and provided three assists in 11 appearances this season, and the Villa game is the biggest Champions League night of their group campaign. Lose him for five weeks and the champions would face Samsunspor, Villa and the Besiktas derby on 30 November without their main goalscorer — and without Leao for much of the same stretch.
The next medical update will decide which briefing was right. Until then, the plan inside Galatasaray is still to have Osimhen ready for Villa — but the five-week warning means nobody in Istanbul is counting on it yet.
For more on the qualifiers, check today’s predictions.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons (public domain, Fédération Guinéenne de Football) — collage by SportsBuddy.
