Victor Osimhen rejoined Galatasaray's first-team training on April 11, six weeks after surgery on a fractured right forearm, as the Turkish giants fight to claw back a title race that has slipped during his lay-off.
The Nigeria striker worked with the main squad before shifting to individual drills under physiotherapists, the club announced, following a rehabilitation schedule designed to avoid any relapse. Galatasaray have leaked 16 points in the 11 matches Osimhen missed, a slide that has reopened the championship picture.
Turkish journalist Nevzat Dindar reports Osimhen will travel to Ankara for Sunday's meeting with Gençlerbirliği and is pencilled in for bench duty, with a late cameo possible. Medical staff will then gauge whether he is ready for the Istanbul derby against Fenerbahçe on 26 April.
Coach Okan Buruk, whose side have seen their lead evaporate, brushed aside talk of crisis. "Osimhen has started training. He will be in the squad for the weekend. Nothing has changed in my mind. We dropped points, we lost an advantage, but we never lost confidence in ourselves. I trust myself, my players, and our fans. We will celebrate the championship together."
Before the injury the 25-year-old had rattled 19 goals and set up seven more in 29 appearances across all competitions.
Osimhen's return feels less like a boost and more like a last roll of the dice for a Galatasaray squad that has forgotten how to win without him. The numbers are brutal: 1.45 points per game vanished the moment his forearm cracked, turning a canter into a cliff-edge.
Buruk's bullish press-room bravado masks a tactical headache. The team morphed into a crossing machine without their premier box predator, averaging more speculative balls into empty space than any Super Lig side since February. Re-inserting a jet-heeled No.9 midway through a form crisis risks upsetting the improvised chemistry, yet the alternative—continuing with makeshift forwards who have one goal in their last five league outings—guarantees Fenerbahçe will overtake them.
For Nigerian fans, the subplot is nerve-wracking. A half-fit Osimhen limping through May could jeopardise a summer that includes a World Cup qualifier against South Africa and the AFCON push. Finishing the Turkish season strong is welcome, but only if it leaves the Eagles' talisman sharp rather than patched together with tape and hope.
Watch the Gençlerbirliği bench cameo closely: if Osimhen clocks 20 lively minutes without protective strapping, expect him to start the derby and tilt the title race; anything less and Buruk may have to choose between club salvation and national duty.
