Arsenal Target Osimhen: Wage Cut Needed for Transfer

Arsenal have made Victor Osimhen their late-window priority but are making one thing clear: he will have to climb down on his wage demands to get his move to the Emirates.

The London club have opened direct talks over a deal for the Galatasaray striker, with Mikel Arteta determined to add a heavyweight centre-forward before the summer window shuts. Arsenal’s pursuit has sharpened after they failed to persuade Atletico Madrid to part with Julian Alvarez, who is understood to favour a switch to Barcelona rather than a return to the Premier League.

Osimhen, 27, currently earns more than €20m (£17.1m) per year in Turkey. That level of salary sits beyond what Arsenal are prepared to offer, and any agreement now hinges on whether the Nigeria international is willing to accept a significant reduction to make the move happen.

The financial negotiations do not stop with the player. Galatasaray president Dursun Ozbek has repeatedly insisted that Osimhen is not for sale, a position backed up by the club’s hard stance in the market. Earlier this month, they rejected a €130m (£111m) bid from Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal, a statement offer that still failed to loosen their grip on their star forward.

Al-Hilal, forced to look elsewhere after that setback, then turned to Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins. Their latest £45m proposal was also knocked back, another reminder of how fiercely clubs are defending their top strikers in this window.

Through all of this, Osimhen has simply kept scoring.

He has started the season in Turkey in ruthless form, hitting two goals and an assist in Galatasaray’s 4-0 away win over Erzurumspor on Friday, having already scored twice in a 2-2 draw with Corum FK. He remains the focal point of the Turkish champions’ attack and is expected to keep leading the line while Arsenal wait.

The Premier League side are ready. The player is flying. The only question now is whether Osimhen is prepared to sacrifice part of his pay packet to trade Istanbul for north London.