Galatasaray and Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen has had knee surgery and will miss the 2027 AFCON qualifier against Tanzania. Club vice-president Mehmet Cibara rejects any link between the Rams Park pitch and his injuries.
The news broke on 12 November: Victor Osimhen, Galatasaray’s Nigeria international striker, has undergone arthroscopic knee surgery after a loose fragment was detected, according to Apex Football. The injury dates back to the Istanbul club’s 2-0 Champions League win over Stuttgart.
Direct consequence: the striker is out of Nigeria’s 2027 AFCON qualifier against Tanzania. He has not featured in the qualifying campaign so far. The length of his absence from competitive action, however, remains undetermined.
Galatasaray rule out the pitch
The club sought to rule out the pitch as a factor. Mehmet Cibara, Galatasaray’s vice-president, rejected any link between the Rams Park pitch and the injuries of both Osimhen and Rafael Leão, Apex Football reports.
“The injuries have nothing to do with the pitch. Leao’s injury is completely different. Osimhen’s injury is something chronic,” the director said, as quoted by the same source.
A prolific 2026 all the same
Statistically, the calendar year remains a rich one for the striker. According to Le Phocéen, he has 35 goal contributions in the 2026 calendar year, level with Mohamed Salah. The figure comes from a single outlet.
Those performances were not enough for a place among the nominees for the 2026 CAF Awards, whose ceremony is scheduled for 2 December in Lagos. For Kojo Williams, former president of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFA), the omission is explained by Nigeria’s poor results: absent from the 2026 World Cup and third at AFCON 2025.
That is the former official’s opinion, as reported by Leadership, and not an official fact.
A return with no fixed date
For now, no timetable accompanies Osimhen’s surgery. Apex Football says the length of his return to competitive action remains undetermined, leaving doubt over his availability for both Galatasaray and the Nigerian national team.
Nigeria will therefore have to do without their striker for the meeting with Tanzania, in a 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign he has yet to play in.