Former Beşiktaş forward Nihat Kahveci has revealed what impressed him the most about Victor Osimhen when he made his debut for Galatasaray in their 5-0 thrashing of Çaykur Rizespor in the Süper Lig at the RAMS Park at the weekend.
With Mauro Icardi injured, head coach Okan Buruk had a choice to make on whether to start the Super Eagles forward or Michy Batshuayi.
Osimhen got the nod and didn’t play like one who has yet to play 90 minutes since May, as he had a very eventful game.
He came close to getting a goal and also collided with Rizespor centre-back Husniddin Alikulov who was eventually taken off after suffering a concussion.
Speaking about his performance after the game, Kahveci revealed what impressed him about the performance of the Super Eagles star.
“I didn’t see Osimhen as lacking in physicality. He showed what an athletic player he is. I saw his jumping advantage in all the cut balls,” he was quoted as saying by Yenisafak.
“Goals were expected from Osimhen. Batshuayi gave him a very nice pass, I think he hit the ball correctly with the inside of his foot and the goalkeeper saved it.
“Apart from that, did he get into many clear positions? Galatasaray players did not get him into many positions like that.
“On the defensive side of things, I really liked his directing the ball to the goalkeeper and defenders when it came to him, and his defensive role and struggle in those areas when the ball was in Rizespor.
“Osimhen scores a lot of goals. He searches a lot, he is very active. He is always involved. If you create more positions for him, he will score a lot of goals in Galatasaray.”
Galatasaray have won the Süper Lig in the past two seasons and the arrival of Osimhen will no doubt strengthen their squad.
It remains to be seen how Buruk will make use of the 2015 Fifa U17 World Cup Golden Boot winner and Icardi who won the Süper Lig top scorer last season.
It has been suggested that Buruk plans on using the two strikers but that can’t be confirmed when the Argentina international returns to full fitness.
