Who is

Who is Arda Turan?

Arda Turan, born on January 30, 1987 in Bayrampasa, Istanbul, is a Turkish football player. He plays for FC Barcelona from La Liga teams and the Turkish National Team. Turan, who usually plays on the left wing, can also work on the right wing and behind the striker.

He started playing football at the age of 8 in Altintepsi Makelspor, an amateur team in the Altıntepsi neighborhood of Bayrampasa, where he was born and raised. From 1997 to 2000, he continued his football career in Altintepsi Makelspor. In 2000, at the age of 12, he transferred to Galatasaray. He played football in Galatasaray infrastructure from 2000 to 2005.

He played his first official game for Galatasaray on January 22, 2005 in the Turkish Cup match against Bursaspor. Turan, who played for Galatasaray for a while after he turned professional, was loaned to Vestel Manisaspor in the second half of the 2005-06 season. He played his first official match for this team in the away match against Ankaragucu and scored the first goal of both his club career and the Super League in the match that was won 2-0.

After half a season at Vestel Manisaspor, he returned to Galatasaray. He scored 2 goals and made 1 assist in the match Galatasaray won 5-2 against Mladá Boleslav in the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League on August 9, 2006. Thus, he scored his first official goal under the Galatasaray jersey. On August 13, 2006, in the match where Galatasaray defeated Kayserispor 4-0, he scored his first goal in the Super League for Galatasaray. In the 2009-10 season, at the age of 22, he was appointed as the captain of the Galatasaray Football Team and was given a 10 back number.

Arda Turan won one Super League, Turkish Cup and Turkish Super Cup Championships with Galatasaray jersey. In August 2011, he transferred to Spanish club Atlético Madrid for a transfer fee of €12,000,000. With this transfer fee paid, he became the most expensive Turkish football player transferred from Turkey to abroad. He made his official debut for the Madrid team on 28 August 2011, in a La Liga match against Osasuna.

During the seasons he played for Atlético Madrid, he won one La Liga, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish King’s Cup, Spanish Super Cup and 1 UEFA Europa League title, and in 2014, he played an active role in the team’s progress to the finals with the goal he scored in the Champions League semi-finals. Before the 2015-16 season, he was transferred to another Spanish team Barcelona for a transfer fee of €34 million (€7 million success bonuses) and became the most expensive Turkish football player.

Arda Turan, who also plays for Turkey, played in Turkey Under 16, Turkey Under 17, Turkey Under 18, Turkey Under 19, Turkey Under 20 and Turkey Under 21 before playing for the Turkish National Team. He made his debut with the Turkish national football team in a friendly match against Luxembourg on 16 August 2006. Arda competed against Turkey in the 2008 European Football Championship and scored 2 goals in the tournament for his team.

He won the Milliyet Sports Award in the categories of Footballer of the Year in 2008 and 2009, and Athlete of the Year in 2013. He won the Football Plus Magazine Football Oscars of the Year award in the categories of Footballer of the Year in 2010 and Turkish Footballer of the Year in Europe in 2012 and 2013.

In 2014, within the scope of the 13th International Turkey Sportsmen Awards; He won the European Footballer of the Year award. In 2008, he was chosen as the 8th best football player among 100 star football players born in 1987 and above by the Spanish sports magazine Don Balón. He was named the most popular active football player of 2009 by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.

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Ece Nagihan

Hi, I'm Ece. I am a writer for Expat Guide Turkey and I strive to create the best content for you. To contact me, you can send an e-mail to info@expatguideturkey.com. Happy reading!

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