I decide my future, Osimhen tells Napoli on Galatasaray stay

Nigeria international striker  Victor  Osimhen  has reportedly said  he would be  the one to determine his own future amid  transfer  rumours  away  from Galatasaray.

Napoli president Aurelio di Laurentiis has been quoted as saying that  he will be open for Osimhen to join Serie A rivals AC Milan in exchange for Rafael Leao and should Kvaratskhelia quit.

But  Osimhen has said  that  he would be  the one to decide where he plays after Galatasaray.

“I decide on my future, I don’t want others to decide,” he said firmly .“I feel happy when I remember how the Galatasaray fans welcomed me. I couldn’t be happier in a better place than here. My aim is to finish this year here.”

Yet a football transfer expert  has suggested  only a big money deal can lure  away Osimhen  from  Galatasaray  in the upcoming  January Transfer Window.

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Osimhen, who was linked with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain right up until the final week of the summer transfer window, ultimately did not make a move to either club.

Instead, the 25-year-old joined Galatasaray on loan, where he’s been showcasing his ability by scoring four goals and providing four assists in seven appearances across all competitions.

According to Turkish outlet Sozcu, Galatasaray is keen to make his stay permanent as the club is reportedly willing to pay £42 million to sign him on a full-time basis from Napoli.

But in his recent appearance on the PSG Talk Extra Time podcast, Football Transfer’s Robin Bairner spoke about whether he sees Osimhen leaving this upcoming January transfer window.

“He’s been in the Turkish news this week saying that he’s going to stay at Galatasaray [and] he’s spoken to fans and said he’s going to stay to the end of the season,” Bairner said. “But I think if a big offer came in from a PSG or a Chelsea or an Arsenal, any of the teams that were interested in him during the summer, I think it’s certainly something you would have to consider. But he does seem to be enjoying life in Turkey and there seems to be no urgency, I suppose, to leave at the moment. So it would have to be the right offer.”

I decide my future, Osimhen tells Napoli on Galatasaray stay

AFC Champions League: Cristiano Ronaldo strikes as Al Nassr thrashes holder Al-Ain 5-1

Cristiano Ronaldo helped fire Al Nassr to a crushing 5-1 victory against reigning Asian champions Al Ain in the AFC Champions League Elite on Tuesday.

The Portuguese star, without a goal in his past three appearances for the Saudi Arabian side, netted the second of the hosts’ goals at Al Awwal Park in Riyadh.

Right on the half hour, Al Ain goalkeeper Khalid Essa failed to hold a routine long-range drive from former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, leaving Ronaldo to pounce on the rebound to tap home.

The win maintained Al Nassr’s unbeaten start to the rebranded AFC Champions League Elite, lifting them to third in the 12-team West Asia table. Saudi counterparts Al Hilal and Al Ahli sit above them. The top eight reach the knockout phase.

Seeking revenge following last season’s quarter-final exit at the hands of Al Ain, Al Nassr burst out of the blocks on Tuesday. Stefano Pioli’s side took the lead after five minutes, when Brazilian Anderson Talisca finished low past Essa from the edge of the Al Ain area.

After Ronaldo doubled Al Nassr’s advantage, the home team put the result beyond their UAE rivals seven minutes later. Angelo Gabriel, a summer signing from Chelsea, exchanged passes with Mane and sent his shot looping over Essa courtesy of a deflection off Al Ain defender Fabio Cardoso. It was eventually deemed an own goal.

Al Ain pulled one back at the start of the second half, when Park Yong-woo’s shot struck the upright and cannoned back off Al Nassr goalkeeper Bento for the game’s second own goal.

However, Brazilian teenager Wesley, introduced moments before, curled home eight minutes from time before Talisca rounded off the night deep into stoppage time with his second.

With the loss, Al Ain languish at the bottom of the West Asia standings having taken a solitary point from a possible 12. A third successive defeat ramps up the pressure on manager Hernan Crespo, who in May guided the club to a first Asian crown in 21 years.

– Vissel go top in East –

Meanwhile, in East Asia, domestic title-holders Vissel Kobe beat South Korea’s Gwangju FC 2-0 at the top of their group stage on a good night for Japanese teams.

Kawasaki Frontale scored three times in the first half at home on the way to a 3-1 victory over newly crowned Chinese champions Shanghai Port. Akihiro Ienaga, Yusuke Segawa and Sai van Wermeskerken were on the scoresheet.

In Kobe, the hosts and J. League champions triumphed through a Taisei Miyashiro penalty and a Daiju Sasaki header. The victory left Vissel top of the 12 teams in the East zone at the halfway point, while Gwangju dropped to second.

Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim moved up to third with a 3-0 home victory over South Korea’s Ulsan, who are rooted to the bottom without a point.

Central Coast Mariners scored deep in injury time as they roared back to grab a 2-2 home draw with Shanghai Shenhua to finally get a point on the board.

Bailey Brandtman poked home for the Australians in the 95th minute after the hosts had been 2-0 down. That left Shenhua fourth in the group while the Mariners are one off the bottom.

AFC Champions League: Cristiano Ronaldo strikes as Al Nassr thrashes holder Al-Ain 5-1

Problem with Mbappe is he’s not a number nine – Benzema

Former Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema believes Kylian Mbappe must learn to play as a central striker in the Spanish capital because he cannot displace Vinicius Junior on the left wing.

Mbappe completed a dream move to Madrid this summer at the end of his Paris Saint-Germain deal, but has not hit top form under Carlo Ancelotti.

The coach has retained Brazil international Vinicius in his favoured position on the wing and has used Mbappe, who prefers to play off the left, down the middle.

“The problem, in my opinion, is that (Mbappe) is not a central striker, even with the national team, every time he plays as a number nine he doesn’t feel right, because that’s not his position,” Benzema told Spanish television show El Chiringuito late Monday.

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“On the left, he’s got a guy who’s at the same level as him, Vinicius, so there is a problem, you can’t play Vinicius as a number nine or on the right, because when he plays on the left he makes the difference in every game.

“Mbappe isn’t a real number nine. People ask a lot of him and he’s under a lot of pressure, this isn’t Paris Saint-Germain.”

Since arriving from PSG the 25-year-old has eight goals in 14 appearances across all competitions.

Benzema, who won the Ballon d’Or at Real Madrid in 2022 before signing for Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad last year, said the striker should keep working hard to adapt to his new role.

“(I’d advise him) don’t give up, because I don’t think he’s going to push Vinicius to move — he’s the best player in the world at the moment,” continued Benzema.

“Mbappe needs to get it into his head that today he’s a number nine, and forget about the left flank for a while.”

Benzema, who joined Real Madrid in 2009 and played there for 14 seasons, warned Mbappe that “if you go two or three games without a goal, you’re going to have a lot of problems.”

Problem with Mbappe is he’s not a number nine – Benzema