Jose Mourinho has accused new Galatasaray signing Victor Osimhen of “diving too much” but admitted he is an “absolutely fantastic player”.
The Nigeria striker looked in line to leave Napoli for Chelsea this summer, but could not agree personal terms with the Blues.
But after the European transfer window closed, the 25-year-old agreed on a loan deal to the Turkish Super Lig, with clauses in place that would allow him to leave in January should a bigger club come in for him.
Osimhen made it clear he wanted to leave the Serie A side this summer and as a result was excluded from the squad by new head coach Antonio Conte.
Al-Ahli also tried their luck at bringing him to the Saudi Pro League but saw their bid also turned down by the forward.
But with his move to Turkey now finalised, he will have an eye on another meeting with Mourinho, who is in charge of Galatasaray’s rivals Fenerbahce.
The special one was asked about Osihmen’s move and had both positive and negative things to say about him.
🚨🚨🎙️| Jose Mourinho on Victor Osimhen:
“He is a fantastic player, but I don’t like the way he behaves, he dives too much…”
I told him, ‘You and Mo Salah are the best African players. In the past, it was Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o, and George Weah. You cannot behave like… pic.twitter.com/iYiOA6FFVL
— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) September 11, 2024
Speaking to HT Spor, Mourinho said: “‘Osimhen is a fantastic player.
“He is a player that if I was in a club with the potential to pay 70 to 75 million, I would buy. He’s a fantastic player.
“Of course, he comes in different circumstances but in the end the circumstances don’t matter.
“What matters is Galatasaray got an absolutely fantastic player.
“I don’t have problems with Victor. In fact, we have a very good relationship.
“But every time I play against him I speak with him because I don’t like the way he behaves, he dives too much.
“The last time we played, Roma against Napoli, we had this conversation.
“I told him, “Look, you are one of the two best African players – it’s you and [Mohamed] Salah. In the past Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o, George Weah, you cannot behave like this.
“He dives too much, that’s my problem with him. But after ten minutes, we are fine. We have a very good relationship.
“For the Turkish league it is fantastic and for Galatasaray it is fantastic too.”
