Galatasaray pulled off one of the most shocking transfers of the summer by landing Victor Osimhen on a loan deal from SC Napoli, taking advantage of the fact that their transfer window is open until September 13th to land the wantaway superstar striker after every other avenue away from Napoli had closed. Leon Goretzka may be next, according to Transfermarkt. Here is their report:
As Turkish journalist Haluk Yürekli, who specializes in the Süper Lig club [Galatasaray], reported, the Istanbul club have been trying to lure the 29-year-old midfielder from FC Bayern over the past few days. According to reports, the clubs agreed on a loan, and Galatasaray [put ]pressure on him because they wanted to register Goretzka for the Europa League, which was only possible until September 4th. But the right-footer, whose prospects of playing time with the German record champions are very slim, has rejected a transfer. Nevertheless, Gala does not want to give up and is continuing to court the 57-time German international, even if he cannot play in Europe until the winter break. The transfer window in Turkey is still open until September 13th. Goretzka’s high salary would not have been a problem in a deal, the report says, because Galatasaray and Munich would have shared it. Goretzka’s gross annual salary is estimated by Bild to be between 16 million and 18 million euros. This would have made him another high earner after Osimhen, whose salary is said to be around 9 million to 10 million euros net.
From a neutral perspective, such a transfer would undoubtedly raise further questions about how fair it is for the Turkish football transfer window to stay open so much longer than so many other European countries. Galatasaray’s current transfer dealings are a perfect demonstration of how much of an advantage an extra couple of weeks of the transfer window provide.
It is utterly crucial to note that this is still just a rumor. But if it were true, from a Bayern perspective, this will split opinions. On one hand, Bayern will have offloaded someone who is earning a disproportionate wage for his expected role as bit part player. On the other, many fans may get upset at the lengths the club is willing to go to offload such an established player in Leon Goretzka after having left themselves believe after the German transfer window shut that he would stay. After the German’s steadfast refusal to leave in the past months, it would be surprising if Galatasaray were able to convince him to move. But crazier things have happened…
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