Let Osimhen rest — Turkish pundit advises Galatasaray to bench Super Eagles star

Victor Osimhen's heroics for Nigeria during the international break should be enough to earn him a rest for Saturday’s Istanbul derby against Basaksehir.

Aaccording to Spor commentator Veli Yigit, who insists the Nigerian forward needs time to recover from his heavy international workload.

Osimhen was instrumental in the Super Eagles' recent back-to-back victories over Lesotho and Benin in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, logging a demanding 170 minutes across both fixtures, leading to fatigue.

With Galatasaray scheduled to face Bodo/Glimt in a crucial UEFA Champions League encounter next week, Yigit believes resting the star, who has only managed four starts out of a possible ten in all competitions this season, is the smart tactical move for manager Okan Buruk.

"I don't think Osimhen should be in the starting eleven for the Başakşehir match. He's been through a tiring period, he's tired after national team duty," Yigit was quoted as saying by habersarikirmizi.com.

He added a motivational argument for including another forward: "Plus, Icardi needs to be in the starting eleven to boost his morale.”

Yigit went on to say that Osimhen appears to have put his summer transfer saga behind him and is now completely focused on performing for Galatasaray.

"I see Osimhen very happy. His complete focus is on Galatasaray. He no longer has thoughts like 'Where will I go? What will my contract be like?' These details are important. I expect a performance beyond the top level from him.”