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FC Barcelona sporting director Deco has placed Nigeria international Victor Osimhen on the club’s shortlist for the summer transfer window as the primary candidate to succeed Robert Lewandowski, whose contract at the Catalan club expires on June 30, setting up a potential pursuit that would test Barcelona’s financial recovery.
This could strain their La Liga wage registration compliance, and require them to negotiate with a Galatasaray club that has publicly insisted it has no intention of selling the striker who has become the most prolific goalscorer in Turkish Super Lig history.
Osimhen is among several forwards being monitored by Barcelona as they prepare for life after Lewandowski, and is viewed as a realistic alternative should their primary targets prove difficult to secure. Alongside Barcelona, clubs including Bayern Munich, Juventus, and Chelsea are also believed to be monitoring the Nigerian forward closely. Transfer insider Gabriel Sans told Radyospor that Osimhen is “definitely a player Barcelona want” and is high on their list of desired players, adding that it is “certain they will make contact for him in 2026.” Fabrizio Romano confirmed Barcelona were making calls to stay informed on the striker market, with Osimhen among several elite goalscorers the club was tracking, though he noted the Nigerian was not negotiating with any club at this stage.
Lewandowski is no longer a guaranteed starter under head coach Hansi Flick, with the 37-year-old accepting a reduced role this season, and his contract was extended only until June 30, 2026 — a short-term arrangement that makes his departure at the end of the campaign the most likely outcome. Former Barcelona star Thierry Henry recently said the club needed a top-level striker of Osimhen’s calibre to remain competitive at the highest level. Deco has publicly played down the prospect of signing a new No. 9 unless an exceptional market opportunity presents itself — language widely interpreted in Catalan football media as contingency framing rather than a genuine disinterest in the position.
Osimhen, 27, joined Galatasaray on loan from Napoli in September 2024 before the transfer was made permanent in the summer of 2025 for a Turkish Super Lig record fee of €75 million on a contract running until June 2029. He has scored 53 goals in 65 appearances across all competitions since joining, including 37 goals and four assists during his loan season alone, establishing himself as one of the most dangerous centre-forwards in European football outside the continent’s five major leagues.
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His current season figures stand at 16 goals and six assists in 24 appearances, a return that has strengthened Barcelona’s conviction that he would fit effectively into Flick’s system — a coach whose pressing-heavy, space-attacking style suits Osimhen’s profile as a powerful, mobile, in-behind striker.
The financial and contractual obstacles to a transfer are significant. Galatasaray vice-president Abdullah Kavukcu said the club’s €75 million investment had at least doubled in value: “When we bought him, many people talked about it as a crazy investment. I think Victor proved everyone wrong, considering his value has doubled. We know he’s one of the best centre-forwards in the world, and we want to achieve great things together.” Galatasaray president Dursun Ozbek told Fanatik that Osimhen’s contract contains no release clause.
“There is no release clause in Osimhen’s contract. He is an extremely successful footballer who will serve Galatasaray for many years,” Ozbek said. That claim, however, conflicts with a separate report from Turkish outlet Haberlisin three weeks ago which stated that Galatasaray had inserted an €80 million release clause into the contract amid the growing European interest — a figure significantly below the €150 million valuation Kavukcu has cited publicly. The two positions cannot be reconciled from available information.
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Osimhen currently earns €15 million per year at Galatasaray, the highest salary in the history of the Turkish Super Lig, in addition to a €1 million loyalty bonus and €5 million in image rights compensation — a total package that would cost a European club approximately double the net figure before tax, making him one of the most expensive wage commitments in world football.
Barcelona are acutely aware of the La Liga 1:1 financial fair play rule, which requires clubs to generate €1 in savings or new revenue for every €1 of new spending, and are not yet compliant with that threshold — a condition that would need to be resolved before any registration of a player on Osimhen’s salary could proceed.
There is also a clause in Osimhen’s Galatasaray contract that prevents him from joining any Italian club for two years from the date of his permanent transfer — a provision that restricts Juventus, who have also expressed interest, from pursuing him until mid-2027, and that concentrates the realistic European options for a summer 2026 move on clubs outside Italy. An insider at Galatasaray said: “I asked Galatasaray if they had any intention of selling Victor Osimhen. The answer was, ‘We haven’t received any offers, and we have no intention of selling him.’ Osimhen has no plans to leave either.”
