Galatasaray might just have pulled off the coup of the summer transfer window after agreeing a deal to sign Victor Osimhen from Napoli.
The Turkish champions have capitalised on Osimhen’s failure to secure a high-profile transfer to sign the forward on loan for the campaign.
Osimhen arrives in Istanbul regarded as one of the best centre-forwards in world football, with only Ronaldo Nazario and Cristiano Ronaldo boasting a better minute-per-goal ratio in Serie A.
He now finds himself in the unlikeliest of surroundings at Galatasaray, in arguably the biggest transfer coup in Turkish football history.
Ahead of the imminent announcement of Osimhen’s loan arrival, we’ve remembered five of football’s biggest statement signings.
Five of football’s biggest statement signings ever
Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona’s transfer to Napoli would just not happen in the modern day. The Italian side narrowly avoided relegation from Serie A the previous season, had never won a league title, but were still able to sign the Argentine genius for a world-record fee.
Maradona had not yet reached the heights that have seen some label him the finest footballer to have lived, but in two seasons at Barcelona had delivered 38 goals in 58 games. Controversy on and off the pitch and a chequered injury record saw the Spanish side prepared to cash in, however, in the belief that Maradona the player was not quite worth the party-boy package.
How they were wrong.
‘Diego! Diego! Diego!’ 😍
Check out this iconic ’80s footage of Maradona being unveiled as a Napoli player from Asif Kapadia’s forthcoming film ‘Diego Maradona’ 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/XHuqcioJc4
— GOAL (@goal) April 23, 2019
Maradona waltzed into a league fast becoming the toughest in world football and turned it on its head. In seven seasons he scored 115 goals in 259 games and twice lifted the Scudetto, as Napoli became the first team in the south of the Italian Peninsula to win a league title. Controversies continued to follow him but, on the pitch, he inspired the greatest era in Napoli’s history.
Alan Shearer
Jack Walker’s dream to turn Blackburn Rovers into one of England’s elite gathered momentum after the club were promoted to the Premier League in 1992. After beating Leicester in the play-off final, Blackburn returned to the top division ahead of the inaugural Premier League campaign.
Blackburn owner Walker loosened the purse strings to sign Alan Shearer from Southampton in a British transfer record deal. The Southampton striker turned down Manchester United, runners-up in the top flight the previous season, to sign for the newly promoted side and wrote his name into club folklore across four seasons.
Alan Shearer’s #PL legacy began #OnThisDay in 1️⃣9️⃣9️⃣2️⃣ when he joined @Rovers
The rest is history ⚽️🏆 pic.twitter.com/bqVuwb17R6
— Premier League (@premierleague) July 27, 2020
Shearer scored 130 goals in 171 appearances for Rovers and won the Premier League’s Golden Boot in 1994/95, as Kenny Dalglish’s team won the title. It was a first title in 81 years for Blackburn, as Walker’s vision for his hometown club came true.
Iconic Duos: Shearer and Sutton – Blackburn’s ‘SAS’
Luis Figo
Perhaps the biggest statement signing of all time. Real Madrid presidential candidate Florentino Perez had built his election campaign on the promise of signing Luis Figo, the creative heartbeat of the club’s arch-rivals, Barcelona.
Upon election he executed the ambitious move, signing Figo for a world-record fee after activating the release clause in his contract. Figo’s unforgettable defection from Catalonia to the capital remains one of the biggest transfer stories of all time, as Perez kickstarted the Galáctico project at Real Madrid and threw a grenade into the El Clásico rivalry.
Luis Figo visiting Camp Nou for the first time after his move from Barcelona in 2000.pic.twitter.com/lWb0166eYt
— 90s Football (@90sfootball) May 14, 2024
A brilliant footballer, a bold move, and a transfer that stunned the world.
Wing Wizards: Luis Figo – Brilliance and betrayal
Robinho
Robinho’s arrival in the Premier League remains one of the most stunning signings the league has seen, as the Real Madrid star signed for Manchester City in a British transfer record.
This was a Manchester City side that had finished ninth the previous season, but an Abu Dhabi-led takeover late in the transfer window meant the club were after a statement signing and Robinho arrived at the Etihad.
Robinho had been labelled, somewhat unhelpfully, as ‘the next Pele’ at former side Santos, and here he was being paraded by a side without a major trophy in more than three decades.
When @ManCity broke the Premier League transfer record to bring @Robinho to the Etihad Stadium… #PLMoments pic.twitter.com/4KsIhWoa3j
— Premier League (@premierleague) August 1, 2017
His impact was instant with a debut goal against Chelsea – a side he so nearly joined before City hijacked the deal – before netting a hat-trick in his fifth league game against Stoke.
Robinho was the big fish in a small pond that the club’s ownership wanted to turn into an ocean, delighting the crowds with a full repertoire of tricks and flicks, including an audacious scoop to score against Arsenal.
His bright start fizzled out but Robinho will be remembered as the first major signing of what has become a glittering era for the Etihad side.
Neymar
The Paris Saint-Germain project was in search of a boost in 2017, with the Parisians keen to turn domestic dominance into European success. UEFA Champions League glory had proven elusive, so the big-spending Qatari owners decided to throw some serious cash at it.
PSG shattered the world transfer record by signing Neymar from Barcelona in a £198m deal that rocked football and reshaped the transfer market. Barcelona believed the Brazilian’s release clause would be enough to dissuade interested parties, but PSG activated the fee – more than doubling the previous world record in the process.
On this day in 2017, PSG signed Neymar for a fee of €222m 💰
It remains the most expensive transfer in football history 🤯
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 3, 2022
However, Neymar’s time in Paris was one of failed potential. He scored 118 goals in 173 appearances for the Ligue 1 side and won 13 domestic trophies, though he endured long periods on the sidelines and failed to complete his continental quest.
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