Osimhen, Amrabat & Co. – The most valuable players to join the Turkish Süper Lig

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Winter window update 

©TM/IMAGO

The Süper Lig transfer window slammed shut this week with no less than 133 players departing the Turkish top-flight and 101 making the move to the European league. In total, Turkish clubs spent just under €77 million on new players over the course of their winter transfer window, with Fenerbahce’s €11.75m signing of Diego Carlos being the largest single bit of transfer business done. And the Brazilian makes the move to a top-flight that seems to be garnering more and more top stars from around Europe. 

Indeed, while the winter transfer window didn’t have the biggest deals to show off the 2024/25 season in general has been one in which the Süper Lig has picked up a number of big names. The most notable of which was undoubtedly the arrival of Victor Osimhen in the summer, when he opted for a loan move to Galtasaray amidst constant speculation linking him with moves to Europe’s top clubs. Not only did the move send shockwaves around the world, but it also confirmed the Nigerian striker as the most valuable player to ever join the Turkish top division. But which other players join Osimhen as the most valuable players to move to Turkey in history? Let’s find out and you can view the top 15 gallery below! 

Galatasaray were able to secure Osimhen’s signature on a season-long loan from Napoli after permanent moves to Chelsea and Saudi Arabia collapsed. The 25-year-old’s current market value on Transfermarkt is €100 million and he’s comfortably the most valuable player to move to the Super Lig – €70m more than second ranked Nicolò Zaniolo. 

As the graphic above illustrates, Zaniolo was valued at €30m when he moved from Roma to Galatasaray in February 2023. Eight Galatasaray deals feature in the top ten with just two players from Fenerbache in Fred and Sofyan Amrabat. Fred moved to Istanbul from Manchester United in 2023, while José Mourinho secured Amrabat on an initial loan deal with a €13m obligation to buy from Fiorentina. The only player in the top 15 from outside of Galatasaray and Istanbul is Miralem Pjanic with the midfielder joining Besitkas from Barcelona in 2021.