Dursun Özbek: "There is no exit clause in the contract we made with Osimhen"

Galatasaray President Dursun Özbek stated that their march to success will continue without any changes. He also stated that Nigerian footballer Victor Osimehen's contract does not include an exit clause.

Galatasaray President Dursun Özbek and Galatasaray Sportif A.Ş. Vice President Abdullah Kavukcu made statements regarding the agenda at the sponsorship press conference held at the Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex RAMS Park.

Recalling that the Yellow-Reds have won the Trendyol Super League championship for the last three seasons, Dursun Özbek said, "When I took office with my colleagues in 2022, our goal has been achieved so far. At Galatasaray, goals always grow. Galatasaray has always done this since our founding. This year, our goal is to achieve even greater Champions League success. We will strive for this goal together as a team, the coaching staff, the management, and our fans. You watched the Liverpool and Bodo/Glimt matches. You saw the enthusiasm and support of our fans. You also saw the team's style of play, their conviction, and the commitment of our players. This demonstrates, without needing to be further explained, their belief in this matter and their focus on victory. Just as the entire community has supported us on this path, their support will be the most important factor in our success going forward. As a team, we are ready for this journey, and we will continue to do so."

"Last year, we had sponsorship revenue of around 80 million Euros"

Özbek, stating that the football team was not at a satisfactory level when they took office in 2022, said, "Within the framework of the measures we took in 2022, we raised our success level significantly. We became champions at the end of that year. The number of sponsorships goes hand in hand with your success level. If you are in a period of failure, sponsors will not support you. This is not only linked to success; it also depends on your communication. Galatasaray is a very large community, a very important brand globally. Explaining Galatasaray's greatness to people is very important. In addition to sporting success, expressing ourselves well with the fans in unity, solidarity, and corporate structure and requesting this support was one of the best things we did. Before 2022, our sponsorship revenue was around 15 million Euros. As of the 2022 season, it reached 70 million Euros. This has been increasing. Last year, our sponsorship revenue was around 80 million Euros. We continue to work to increase this figure this year. We have seen that the atmosphere of peace and love we have created has taken Galatasaray to a whole new level. Thanks to this, we have achieved this year's "Our goals are even higher. Galatasaray will never stop this progress. We will continue to delight our fans with our progress in the Champions League. Our goal is to bring Galatasaray to the top 10, or even the top 5, of global sports clubs within a certain period of time. We have upgraded our financial structure in many ways. We are nearing completion of the facility renovation. These three areas—the leveling of the financial structure and the completion of the facility renovation—will make sporting success sustainable when these two are completed," he said.

"There is no exit clause in the contract we made with Osimhen"

The Yellow-Reds' president emphasized that there is no exit clause in the contract they signed with Nigerian footballer Victor Osimhen, saying, "Osimhen had an exit clause at Napoli, €75 million. This figure was determined after a certain negotiation process following a meeting with Napoli. There is no exit clause in the contract we signed with Osimhen. Osimhen is extremely successful. He is a player who will serve Galatasaray for many years. While there was talk that the amount was too high at the time of our transfer in the developing football economy, today, the prevailing opinion in football is that Osimhen's transfer fee is now low and the player's value is much higher. Transparency is crucial in transfers at Galatasaray. Every player contract is extremely transparent and compliant with the federation, UEFA, and FIFA. While Galatasaray is doing all of this, it also evaluates its own financial structure. We see the results of this both on the field and in Galatasaray's financial structure. Our march to success will continue unchanged."

Abdullah Kavukcu: "We want Icardi to stay"

Abdullah Kavukcu, explaining that they decided to reinforce the existing squad without disrupting it after speaking with President Dursun Özbek at the end of last season, said, "Barış has been one of this team's most valuable players for the past three years. We've sold quite a few players, but there's no talk of how much money has gone into it. Icardi is under contract for another year. He scored five goals this season. Performance can sometimes dip. Icardi has brought us so much. Young, children, and old, our fans are so big thanks to Icardi. We're consuming so quickly. Icardi has a contract until the end of this year. We'll talk about it at the end of the year. We'd like him to stay. While the league is still going on, we ask that you don't constantly make these kinds of comments about our players. Barış is our player. We've received very serious offers. Let's bring in a player like Barış; the prices will be even higher. It's very hard to find such a player. Barış has a very good character. His Galatasaray allegiance isn't what people say. We stand with all our players. Torreira's father is ill. The moment he told us, we said, 'Health first.' The match is secondary." "Our teacher immediately gave permission, and he went. I wish his father a speedy recovery," he said.

"Sane made a huge impact in Germany when he came to Türkiye"

Kavukcu, noting that transfer windows in Türkiye can be subject to varying interpretations on social media, said, "There's a significant amount of money at play in this industry. Agents are also involved. The transfers we've made this year are evident. Sane caused a huge stir in Germany when he came to Türkiye. That news quickly faded. Sane is such a player with such character that other clubs didn't choose him, even though they offered him substantial sums, especially from Türkiye. Some players do, so we're off the table. Character is also important to us. We see the family atmosphere at Galatasaray."

Abdullah Kavukcu also spoke about Victor Osimhen's transfer process, saying, "We said we would acquire Osimhen, and everyone commented on it. Finding the right resources is crucial to acquiring him. Thanks to my president's vision, we found that resource. Without that resource, you have no limits; you can't calculate the numbers correctly. Napoli received an offer far exceeding the amount we paid for Osimhen. Osimhen had a saying: 'I won't join any club other than Galatasaray, no matter what they offer.' This was very important to us. His stance was crucial. The important thing is to prepare this money first. Everyone has talked about this from an economic perspective. We are transparently disclosing where our resources come from. We have very serious projects. When we implement all of them, Galatasaray will be one of the top 10 teams in the world. We believe in that. We will achieve this, God willing."

"There is no audience in the world that makes such noise"

Kavukcu, explaining that they're looking ahead match by match in both the Champions League and the Süper Lig, said, "We're not focusing on anything else. We're not focusing on any other team's matches. We're focusing on our own matches. The upcoming Göztepe match is important for us. We're Galatasaray. We have an incredible crowd. Sane and İlkay are players with a strong network. After the match, they said they were so impressed by the Galatasaray crowd. That's why Sane came. Our crowd is doing it so well. There's no crowd in the world that makes such a big splash. No one can keep up with us, and they can't. Now the crowd can control the matches. This is very important."

Abdullah Kavukcu, speaking about Barış Alper Yılmaz, who was reacted to by fans when he was subbed off during the Bodo/Glimt match in the UEFA Champions League, said, "Peace is one of our greatest values. We stand with Barış. We will continue to stand with him no matter what is necessary. It is very important that our fans also support him."

Kavukcu also said that the special box prepared for Victor Osimhen will also be made for Leroy Sane.

"During those processes, everyone talked about something, but we took action"

Abdullah Kavukcu expressed his delight with Osimhen's performance, saying, "There's a player worth €140 million. Osimhen is being talked about more than him right now. We're very happy. Napoli had an offer that was much higher than what we received. Everyone talked about different things during that period, but we took action. It doesn't matter what anyone said in the final; let's look at the results. After all, we had this amount of money, and we got it. Galatasaray is a huge club. We have such a player. We all saw what Osimhen did in the Champions League. He's a very good player and character. We're very happy he's with us."

UAV

Reporter: News Center