{"id":887516,"date":"2026-01-24T22:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T04:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/24\/nobody-told-me-hes-leaving-club-brugge-boss-speaks-on-osimhens-exit-talk-for-onyedika\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T22:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T04:18:09","slug":"nobody-told-me-hes-leaving-club-brugge-boss-speaks-on-osimhens-exit-talk-for-onyedika","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/24\/nobody-told-me-hes-leaving-club-brugge-boss-speaks-on-osimhens-exit-talk-for-onyedika\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cNobody told me he\u2019s leaving\u201d \u2013 Club Brugge boss speaks on Osimhen\u2019s exit talk for Onyedika"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

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Champions League: Club Brugge’s Raphael Onyedika vs Arsenal. Copyright: xPeterxDexVoechtxIMAGO<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Club Brugge coach Ivan Leko has moved to calm nerves around Raphael Onyedika\u2019s future after a fresh wave of transfer speculation linked the Nigerian<\/a> midfielder with a January move to Galatasaray, Soccernet.ng reports<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

The Belgian champions are preparing for a busy stretch of fixtures. But talk around Jan Breydel this week has been dominated by reports that the Turkish giants, helped by Victor Osimhen<\/a>\u2019s persuasion, are trying again to prise away one of Brugge\u2019s most important players.<\/p>\n

Onyedika only just returned from international duty<\/a> after helping Nigeria secure the bronze medal at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations<\/a>, yet his name has immediately been pushed back into the centre of the winter window conversation. <\/p>\n

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Ryan Alebiosu, Raphael Onyedika and Samuel Chukwueze. Photo by Vincent Kamto Copyright: xVincentxKAMTOxIMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aston Villa and Eintracht Frankfurt are also credited with an interest, but Galatasaray<\/a> are said to be leading the chase, with Osimhen, his Super Eagles<\/a> team-mate, playing a prominent role in trying to sell Istanbul as the next destination.<\/p>\n

Speaking ahead of the league meeting with Zulte Waregem, Leko insisted there has been no change in plans to keep the Nigerian midfielder in Brugge.<\/p>\n

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Nigeria Super Eagles and Club Brugge star Raphael Onyedika. Photo by IMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\u201cNobody told me he’s leaving,\u201d Leko said as per Voetbalnieuws<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I’ve seen? He’s training with us again, he’s in good spirits, and he’s behaving normally. I see no reason why Rapha can’t play. He’ll be in the squad.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Croatian also made clear he is not losing sleep over the rumours, adding:<\/p>\n

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\u201cPeople are chattering and speculating about transfers, but I’m staying calm. We’ll see what happens. We’ll only know more when the transfer window is over. But I’m not worried about Onyedika. I’ve been in football for thirty years: I’m not stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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lkay G\u00fcndogan and Raphael Onyedika in action during the Champions League group match between Manchester City and Club Brugge. Credit: Anthony Stanley\/WENN. Copyright: xWENNximago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Get Our Sports News First \u2013 Join Our WhatsApp Channel Now!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Soccer Onyedika focuses on Club Brugge after AFCON<\/h2>\n

Onyedika\u2019s immediate task is to help Brugge navigate a demanding schedule.<\/p>\n

After Zulte Waregem comes a crucial European night against Olympique Marseille, with suspensions and injuries forcing Leko to reshuffle. The Nigerian is expected to slot straight back into midfield, an indicator of how central he remains to the coach\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

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AFCON 2025 standout: Raphael Onyedika. Photo Credit: CAF X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Behind the scenes, however, Brugge would prefer not to lose him mid-season and are trying to convince the 24-year-old to wait until at least the summer, when he enters the final year of his contract. Galatasaray, rebuffed before, are pushing again, while Eintracht Frankfurt and Aston Villa continue to monitor the situation.<\/p>\n

Osimhen has made no secret of his efforts to lure his compatriot, and Onyedika\u2019s camp is understood to view the Turkish proposal favourably. <\/p>\n

Brugge, though, would rather sell to a more prestigious league and still believe there is a strong chance he stays put. For now, Leko is planning with him, but with the window still open, the final word has yet to be written.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"<!--Imhonlamhen Eronmhonsele” src=”https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2024\/12\/DSC_0327-copy-150×150.jpg” height=”80″ width=”80″>\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tImhonlamhen Eronmhonsele\t\t\t\t<\/a>
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\n\t\t\t\tA lifelong fan of Arsenal and the Super Eagles, Imhonlamhen is a football writer and editor at Soccernet.ng, where his journey as a journalist began more than six years ago. Since then, he has helped shape the platform\u2019s editorial voice and guided it toward some of its proudest milestones. <\/p>\n

With a background in Engineering and further training in journalism and digital media, Imhons brings both precision and passion to his storytelling. His love for football runs deep, but he also follows boxing, chess, and athletics with equal curiosity.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Imhonlamhen Eronmhonsele<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Champions League: Club Brugge’s Raphael Onyedika vs Arsenal. Copyright: xPeterxDexVoechtxIMAGO Club Brugge coach Ivan Leko has moved to calm nerves around Raphael Onyedika\u2019s future after a fresh wave of transfer speculation linked the Nigerian midfielder with a January move to Galatasaray, Soccernet.ng reports. The Belgian champions are preparing for a busy stretch of fixtures. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":887517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38479,1046,2005],"tags":[6183,9768],"class_list":{"0":"post-887516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hes","8":"category-nobody","9":"category-soccer","10":"tag-hes","11":"tag-nobody"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/887517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}