Will Victor Osimhen be fit for the Sporting match? Okan Buruk reveals

Article summary

Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk spoke at the press conference following the victory over Başakşehir. Buruk also clarified the latest condition of Victor Osimhen, who was forced off through injury. Buruk said, "Groin injuries have a shorter recovery process compared to others. Hopefully, he will return as soon as possible. We have the Sporting match in five days. Hopefully, our players will be fit in time for this match."

Article details

Galatasaray Head Coach Okan Buruk stated that they earned an important victory by defeating Başakşehir 3-2 away from home on matchday 4 of the Trendyol Super Lig. Buruk made statements at the press conference held after the match at Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium.

Reminding that they entered the week as leaders, Buruk said, "It was an important victory for us. We came here as leaders, and we continue on our way as leaders. I think we started the match very well. There is obviously a difference between the first half and the second half. In the second half, we gave away easy chances. Especially after the 60th minute, there were moments where the opponent created chances with long balls. We also made individual mistakes at times. We had errors regarding our defensive setup. However, overall, we were the team that controlled the game, was close to winning, created many goalscoring opportunities, and finished the match with 3 goals. We are happy in that sense, but we conceded two goals, one from a penalty and the other from a corner. Last week as well, we conceded two goals from set pieces. We will work on these."

Claiming that neither team was satisfied with referee Kadir Sağlam's performance, Buruk said, "Nobody is happy with the referee's performance. Coach Nuri also conveyed this to the referee after the match. He received a red card, and I received a yellow card. It is us receiving yellow and red cards, but let's see what the Central Referees Board will do regarding referees who give such poor performances."

Okan Buruk stated that he does not think Victor Osimhen, who left the game due to an injury, will be out for a long time. Expressing that Osimhen's tests will be conducted tomorrow, Buruk said, "Groin injuries have a shorter recovery process compared to others. Hopefully, he will return as soon as possible. We have the Sporting match in five days. Hopefully, our players will be fit in time for this match."

Explaining that new signings Rafael Leao and Deniz Gül are not physically ready, the yellow-and-reds' head coach evaluated, "Neither of them is fully ready. Players we play without being 100% ready can pose an injury risk. Both Deniz Gül and Leao are currently behind the rest of the team. We need to get them up to the team's level as soon as possible. Leao came off an injury and had a 10-day training deficit. He started here, trained with us for two days. We need to use Leao well and correctly. He is an explosive player. A player who plays one-on-one and makes runs behind the defense. We need to eliminate the risk of injury. That was the reason I didn't bring him on early today. Barış has also done good work for us at striker before. We need a bit of time. Because we always look down on ourselves in Turkey, players here seem unfit, whereas we always view players coming from Europe as ready. Unfortunately, players arriving here are not very ready. During this period, we conducted their tests. We will also do extra work with them. However, they can play; it's not that they can't. But when they play, a risk of injury may arise."

Key highlights

• Related clubs: Galatasaray, Başakşehir
• News type: Football
• Certainty: The source reports this development as an official statement.

Source

This news article was compiled using information from Sözcü (published: September 4, 2026, 23:48).

Original news: Sözcü