One day in August 2020, a 33-year-old returned to Istanbul, to his home, where his dream began – Galatasaray Football Club. After nearly a decade of Spain's dreams thousands of kilometres away and the legend of the "Turkish beard" in La Liga, Arda Turan is finally the one who has fallen back to his roots. When he brushed off the dust of his way home and put on the Galatasaray No. 66 shirt again, he must have known that he was home, but his dream was over. When he wakes up, he will continue to wear the Galatasaray team's jersey and play the remaining heat of his career at the Turkish Telecom Stadium.
A year later, Turan is still continuing his career in Galatasaray. This year, Galatasaray extended Turan's contract for another year. But we can believe that in his dreams, his years in Spain will still appear from time to time, the Calderon Stadium that left his glorious mark, and the Camp Nou Stadium that shattered his dreams...
Alda Turan is a legend in Turkish football, and as a midfielder, his technical level and his career achievements are an inaccessible height for Turkish footballers. Today, let's take a look at his story.
1. 2004-2011: Spirited Galatasaray teenager
Turan was born in 1987 in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city. In this year, many people who have a great influence on today's football world were also born: Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema, Luis Suárez... Like these big names, Turan showed his football talent early on. At the age of 13, Turan joined the Galatasaray Academy. In the youth echelon, Turan is the brightest star. So at the age of 17, Gheorghe Hagi, a legendary Romanian player known as the "Maradona of Eastern Europe", promoted Turan to the first team and sent him to the Turkish Cup against Bursaspor on 22 January 2005. At this time, Turan's jersey number was 66.
In the second half of the 2005-2006 season, Turan was loaned to Manisaspor on loan to get more appearances. When he returned to the team, he immediately established himself in the first team and became the star player in Galatasaray's squad. Only 21 years old, he helped the team to the top of the table and qualified for the Champions League next season. At the same time, his extraordinary performances at the club led him to receive a call-up from the Turkish national team. After this, Turan became a regular for the national team.
● Young Turan in Galatasaray, Source: Ethnologue
In 2008, Turan was included in the squad for turkey's expedition to Switzerland-Austria for the European Championship. In the group stage, Turan's performance can be described as heroic: the final defeat of Switzerland allowed Turkey to win the first victory of the European Championship; against the Czech Republic, in the case of a two-goal trail, in 75 minutes to break the "ten-finger barrier" of the then --day "door god" Petr Čech, sounded the horn of Turkey's counterattack, and finally Turkey defeated the Czech republic team with stars such as Cech and Jan Koller 3:2. At that European Championship, Turkey managed to reach the semi-finals and finally finished fourth, thanks to the young Turan.
Turan at Euro 2008, Source: Goal.com.us
In the 2009–2010 season, Turan was named captain of Galatasaray and took over the no. 10 shirt worn by the club's legends Metin Oktay and Haji, symbolizing the heart of the team. At the time, Turan was only 22 years old. The talented attacking midfielder from Istanbul has also piqued the interest of European giants including Atlético Madrid. In August 2011, Turan moved to Atletico for 12 million euros, setting a new transfer fee record for a Turkish player at the time. The angry Galatasaray teenager is about to board a plane to Madrid and start a new adventure at the Calderon Stadium (home of Atletico Madrid).
2011-2015: Turkish sharp knife shines in Iberia
Arriving with Atletico Madrid with Turan was Diego Simeone, the Argentine coach known as the "bandit coach". As a coach known for his strict tactical style, Simeone is determined to create his own "Predator" at Atletico. Turan, who is tough-looking and has a tough personality, hit it off with the new head coach. Turan, awarded the number 11 shirt, a symbol of important players in the frontcourt, quickly incorporated Simeone's tactical system. On October 30 of that year, Turan scored his first Goal in Europe with a powerful volley in the Europa League against the Celtics (Scotland Giants, which is different from the NBA's Boston Celpa League), and then scored his first La Liga goal on December 11 in a similar way.
● Turan joined Atletico, source: Turan's personal official website
During these four years at Atletico, Turan was undoubtedly successful and was one of the brightest stars in the team. He is not a complete striker, and although he scores better than the team's top scorers, he has played a first-class role in both his shots in front of goal and his tandem in midfield. In April 2012, Turan scored two goals in two minutes against Espanyol. In May of that year, it was his precise assist to the team's scoring technique Radamel Falcao that allowed Atletico to lock up that year's Europa League title. After only one season at Atletico, Turan took over the team's No. 10 shirt. Turan once again put on the no. 10 shirt, and whether at Galatasaray or Atletico Madrid, he was the heart of the team.
In September 2012, Turan and Falcao "connected" again, defeating England giants and Champions League champions Chelsea 4:1. On 30 April 2014, Atletico Madrid faced Chelsea again in the champions league semi-finals of that year, and Turan lived up to expectations by scoring the team's third goal to seal the win and send Atletico to the final. It is worth mentioning that this is the first time that Atletico has stepped on the lawn of the Champions League final since 1974. On 30 September of that year, in a derby match against rivals Real Madrid in the same city, Turan scored the decisive goal in the 76th minute to help Atletico score all three points from Real Madrid on the road.
Turan's four years at Atletico were the highlight of his career. He played in a total of 178 games for Atletico Madrid, scoring 22 goals, contributing 32 assists and having a proven track record in key games. During these four years, he helped Atletico to a number of honours: a La Liga trophy, a Europa League title trophy, a European Super Cup trophy, a Copa del Rey trophy and a Champions League runner-up. His atletico teammate and renowned striker Diego Costa said of him: "Turan is one of the best players I've ever seen, with excellent vision, speed and superior technique. "In the past four years, Turan and countless excellent teammates have worked together to gradually take Atletico Madrid to a new level. The names of his Atletico teammates who played alongside him were all names that became famous in football: Falcao, Costa, Antoine Griezmann, Thibaut Courtois, Saúl Ñíguez, Koke...
Turan and Diego Costa, Source: atleticomadrid.blog
But the trumpet of dreams kept blowing in Turan's ears. Barça, a great club with an extremely glorious history, is a mecca in the hearts of footballers. So when Barca smashed Atletico Madrid for 34 million euros in 2015, Turan knew that the dream of red and blue was finally realized (Note: Barcelona's emblem and home jersey are mainly composed of red and blue, barcelona clubs also known as "red and blue team"). Again, without hesitation, he packed his bags and travelled from Madrid to Barcelona, from the Calderon Stadium to the Camp Nou.
2015-2020: The moment when dreams come true, it is also the time when dreams are shattered
Due to Barca's transfer ban, Turan was only able to appear at camp nou in January 2016. When he arrived at Camp Nou, Turan chose the No. 7 shirt worn by famous stars such as Luis Figo and David Villa. At that time, Barca had the "MSN" frontcourt trident composed of Messi, Neymar and Suarez, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, and Sergio Busquets (Iniesta was nicknamed "Xiaobai" by Chinese fans) midfielder Iron Triangle. This club is in the midst of a powerful "Dream Three Dynasties", in the world football god blocking the killing of god, Buddha blocking the killing of Buddha. As a result, Turan is no longer the club's big star, he becomes a rotating substitute. This may be the price of this heavy red and blue dream.
Turan of the Barça period, source network
Turan's first year at Barcelona, he still had a chance to play. Turan also took advantage of these opportunities well, and when the "MSN" trio could not be on the pitch at the same time, Turan's performance effectively supported the operation of barca's forward line. In the second leg of the 2016 Supercopa de España, Turan scored two goals at Camp Nou to help Barca win that year's Super Cup. On December 7 of that year, when Barça faced Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Champions League, Turan scored a hat-trick, becoming the sixth player in Barca's history to score a hat-trick in the Champions League.
In May 2017, Ernesto Valverde took over luis Enrique as Barca manager. Valverde's arrival made Turan a complete marginal player in the team. In the 2017-2018 season, Turan did not play a single game. Turan was then loaned again – this time not for his growth, as he had done more than 10 years ago, but for a kind of abandonment of him by the club. Turan was leased back to his hometown of Istanbul, but not Galatasaray, but Istanbul BFK (İstanbul Başakşehir F.K.). This rent is two years. The two-year lease means that Turan can no longer be a useful member of Barca. Fate seems to have made a somewhat cruel joke to Turan: Turan's dream has come true, but it is a dream fulfilled during the "MSN" group's massacre, and when the dream awakens, he has entered the twilight of his career.
During the lease of BFK in Istanbul, Turan's off-site life also became less peaceful. Turan's temper has always been known for its fiery temper. In 2018, after Turan and Turkish singer Berkay Şahin were arguing at a bar, Turan punched Shaheen, breaking Shaheen's nasal bone. Shaheen was then taken to the hospital, and Turan arrived with a gun "to beg Shaheen's forgiveness", but still made a big fuss about the hospital, firing a gun on the ground. The court sentenced Turan to 2 years and 8 months in prison, but he would be exempt from serving his sentence if Turan did not commit a crime within five years. And he has sometimes expressed support on social media for some controversial military operations by the Turkish army, which has also reduced the impression of many people on him.
It was also during this unlucky time at Barcelona that in 2017, Turan announced his retirement from the national team. At the national team level, Turan is the hero of Turkish football: 100 appearances for the national team, 17 national team goals, helped Turkey reach the semi-finals of Euro 2008. When the final whistle of Turkey's 2018 World Cup qualifier against Iceland sounded, Turan's national team appearances were forever fixed at 100 games.
FOURTH, 2020 to the present: after a thousand sails, return to the ordinary
Finally, the clock rang when I got home. In August 2020, Turan returned to Galatasaray, re-wearing the original No. 66 shirt. Fortunately, in the 2020-2021 season, Turan was given a relatively generous number of playing opportunities, contributing four goals and two assists to the team. I don't know if when he put on the No. 66 jersey and sat on the bench on the sidelines, his eyes will come up with the weak crown teenager who was also wearing the No. 66 and running on the field?
In an interview, Turan said he did not regret joining Barca at that time. "Barca is a dream destination for every footballer in the world, joining Barca is a great step forward and that opportunity comes at the right time. I can't think of any other possibility than accepting an invitation. ”
Now, Turan is married and has children and has a family of his own. He's still running on the green field, but he's not a front-page figure in the football press anymore. Returning to the ordinary, like many ordinary people, he has been high, low, shining, lost, and finally changed back into an ordinary person. But this ordinary meaning is not ordinary: behind it, it is made up of dreams, applause, sweat and tears.
● Turan at the end of his career, he had more time to enjoy life. Source: Turan's personal website
Compiler: Tang Feige
Reviewer: Xinlei Wang
Typography: He Shihan