There isn’t a storied history of Turkish footballers starring at Real Madrid but youngster Arda Guler is looking to change that.
The teenager arrives at the Bernabeu from Fenerbahce with a huge amount of potential but also plenty of pressure given the fee for his services could rise to €30m as well as the €15m in commission handed out to Guler’s father.
He is an attacking midfielder who is already a goalscorer for the Turkey national team and was present in the Fenerbahce first team since he was just 16 years old.
Predictably, he was quickly dubbed ‘The Turkish Messi’, the sort of tag that is often of very little use to a player. That may be dropped now that he has chosen Real Madrid rather than Barcelona, who were also very keen on signing him.
Naturally, his aim will be to become the greatest Turkish player to have represented Real Madrid, so what is his competition in that regard?
It is fair to say Nuri Sahin’s time at Real Madrid promised much but didn’t live up to expectations.
He left Borussia Dortmund for Real Madrid in the summer of 2011 and stated a desire to work with Jose Mourinho as a reason for making the move.
Sahin had one full season at the club that started late due to injury issues and made just ten appearances. He got one goal, coming against SD Ponferradina in the Copa del Rey, and one assist. In the summer of 2012, he was loaned to Liverpool where he again failed to make much of an impact.
After just half a season in the Premier League, an agreement was reached between Liverpool, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund to terminate his loan and loan him to Dortmund for six months. On the move at the time, he said: “I realised that as a footballer and a human being, I belong here 100 per cent.” Sahin also said: “I noticed quickly that I only want to play for Dortmund.” Sahin was born in Germany and grew up in North-Rhine Westphalia.
At the end of that 2013/14 season, Dortmund activated a clause to buy Sahin back permanently for €7m, ending his spell at Real Madrid.
The only other Turkish player to represent Real Madrid is Hamit Altintop. He joined in the same summer as Sahin but came from Bayern Munich instead on a free transfer, signing a four-year deal.
Altintop failed to fit into the team and saw out just one season of his long-term contract, scoring once in 12 appearances.
After one year he was sold to Galatasaray for €3.5m, meaning Real Madrid made a small profit. He would represent Darmstadt after having his Galatasaray contract terminated following two seasons of injuries and anger from supporters after a terrible cup match display.
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