Osimhen targets October 9 return as Galatasaray manage his recovery

Victor Osimhen is closing in on a Galatasaray return, with the club targeting the Super Lig fixture against Kasimpasa on October 9 as the striker's first game back from the adductor injury he suffered at the start of September.

Osimhen limped out of the September 4 meeting with Basaksehir in the 33rd minute, and club examinations at Acibadem Hospital detected a moderate to advanced strain with bleeding in the right adductor muscle group. The layoff has cost him a Champions League appearance against Sporting Lisbon and a run of Super Lig fixtures.

A slower recovery than first hoped

The striker's rehabilitation has taken longer than Galatasaray expected. He was included in Nigeria's squad for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau, with club and country both hopeful he would be fit for the league meeting with Trabzonspor, but that optimism faded and he withdrew from international duty to continue his recovery in Istanbul.

The break as a reset

Galatasaray are using the three-week international window as a fitness reset: Mario Lemina and Roland Sallai are also rehabilitating rather than joining their national teams, and head coach Okan Buruk expects the trio to be fully ready by the time league play resumes. For Osimhen, the Kasimpasa fixture at RAMS Park on October 9 is the first realistic checkpoint.

Buruk's side have kept winning without their focal point, but a front line rebuilt around Osimhen has a different ceiling entirely. Galatasaray's medical staff will want to see him complete a full week of team training before committing to a starting role; anything earlier risks trading weeks of availability for one afternoon.

OneLightScore will track Osimhen's recovery and Galatasaray's team news, lineups and injury updates through every matchday of the Super Lig season.