Former Barcelona and England forward Gary Lineker has tendered a public apology to Victor Osimhen after being impressed by the Super Eagles hitman’s performance against Liverpool in a recent Champions League clash, Footynaija.com reports.
Osimhen’s lone first half strike proved decisive as Turkish Super Lig champions Galatasaray edged their English counterparts to bounce back from a disappointing opening day 5-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Aside from scoring, Osimhen was particularly lively throughout his time on the pitch. He caused repeated problems for Liverpool’s defensive pairing Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk, earning himself the MOTM award after full-time.
Why did Gary Lineker apologize to Victor Osimhen?
During the summer, just after Osimhen completed his transfer to Galatasaray, there were understandable questions raised about why one of the most prolific strikers in Europe didn’t sign for one of the top clubs across Europe’s top five leagues.
Weighing in on the situation via his podcast The Rest is Football, Lineker suggested that Europe’s biggest clubs had avoided the masked hitman because there were question marks over his character.
In the ex-England international’s exact words: “I do hear on the grapevine that a reason one or two of the clubs are a little bit nervous is that he sometimes goes missing for a few days. So, there’s apparently some kind of slight question mark as to his character in that sense.”
However, following Osimhen’s Man of the Match performance against Liverpool in the Champions League, Lineker apologized for his statement, admitting everything he said were rumours.
“I need to apologise to Victor Osimhen,” he said in the latest episode of The Rest is Football.
“I remember that I intimated that he goes missing sometimes, and I believe that is completely not the case.
“So, Victor, if you’re listening, I’m sorry about that. You shouldn’t spread rumours about these things, so my bad on that.”
