Galatasaray Thread

[haydar]

Musler and Melo is OK,

Seem nie signings, what do you think?

http://www.galatasaray.org/ ----------> Melo

http://www.galatasaray.org/en/futbol/futbo.../haber/1403.php ------> Muslera

[haydar]

Galatasaray 3:0 Liverpool

Friendly

Galatasaray made a super start to new season, Baros is pretty ready to season, Felipe Melo and Ulfaluji and Elmander are pretty good. Galatasaray is supposed to make 1 or 2 more transfer before season starts. See the first and specially 3. goald it is worth to see. What a pitty we will not watch this team in European Arena this year.

[GS1905]

So far in the transfer market this year..

OUT

Bariş Ozbek, MC > Trabzonspor - free transfer

Emiliano Insua, LB > Liverpool - finished loan deal

Harry Kewell, LW > ? - free transfer (signed with Melbourne Victory later)

Lucas Edward Neill, CB > ? - free transfer (signed with Al-Jazeera later)

Robinson Zapata, GK > ? - free transfer (signed with Deportivo Cali later)

Sinan Osmanoğlu, CB > Rizespor - €300k (from A2 team)

Cem Sultan, ST > Kayserispor - free transfer (from A2 team)

Caner Oztel, DM > Rizespor - free transfer (from A2 team)

Cetin Gungor, RB > G. Antepspor - €100k

Serdar Eylik, RW > Karşiyaka - 1-yr loan (loan fee €120k)

Lorik Cana, DM > SS Lazio - part exhange for Fernando Muslera

Emmanuel Culio, DM > Orduspor, 1-yr loan (loan fee €350k, option to buy €1.6M)

Arda Turan, AM > Atletico Madrid, €12.3M

Bogdan Stancu, ST > Orduspor, 1-yr loan (loan fee €200k, no option to buy)

Juan Pablo Pino, RW > Al Nassr FC, 1-yr loan (loan fee €400k, no option to buy)

Musa Cağıran, DM > Bursaspor, Part Exchange for Sercan Yıldırım

Mustafa Sarp, DM > ?, free transfer (signed with Samsunspor later)

IN

Selcuk Inan, MC < Trabzonspor - free transfer

Fernando Muslera, GK < SS Lazio - €4M + Lorik Cana

Felipe Melo, DM < Juventus - 1-yr loan with an option to buy for €12.3M

Johan Elmander, ST < Bolton Wanderers - free transfer

Ceyhun Gulselam, DM < Trabzonspor - free transfer

Tomas Ujfalusi, CB < Atletico Madrid CF - €2.2M

Okan Derici, AMC < Frankfurt - €600k (for A2 team)

Berk Ismail Unsal, ST < G. Osmanpaşa - €750k (buy option activated - for A2 team)

Emmanuel Eboue, DR < Arsenal - €3.5M

Engin Baytar, LW < Trabzonspor - €1.1M

Albert Riera, LW < Olympiakos SFP - €3M

Sercan Yıldırım, ST < Bursaspor - €2.7M + Musa Cağıran

So far in the friendlies this year...

Galatasaray 1-1 SpVgg Unterhaching

The first match of pre-season, Fatih Terim tried the remaining youngsters from the A2 team of last year such as Cumhur and Semih along with potential bit-part players if they stay, such as Sarp, Ayhan and Serkan Kurtuluş. Nothing special noted.

Galatasaray 2-1 Berlin Turkiyemspor

Similar game to the first one, with the exception of new signing playmiaking ace Selcuk Inan starting.

Galatasaray 0-1 FC Twente

First real test mid-July. The team looked to pass the ball well but seemed out of sorts in the final third. Selcuk, Elmander, Ujfalusi and Ceyhun all played in this one. Melo and Muslera were not with the team yet.

Galatasaray 0-0 FC Internazionale

A really impressive outing against an Inter side that had Sneijder, Stankovic, Chivu, Eto'o and Nagatomo in the starting line-up. Ujfalusi started at right-back and did really well in this one.

Galatasaray 3-0 Liverpool FC

A supremo effort by Cimbom as Milan Baros had a brace. Felipe Melo's first game in a Galatasaray jersey, as he totally outplays Poulsen and Adam in the Liverpool centre-mid. Ujfalusi has two assists with another sublime right-back performance. New signing Elmander scores a sweet volley with 8 minutes to go.

Olympiakos 1-0 Galatasaray

A very early Kevin Mirallas goal as our back four went to sleep was good enough to seperate two evenly-matched teams at Karaiskaki. Sabri and Ujfalusi looked very impressive in this match. Gokhan Zan's 52nd minute goal was called off for offside, which was the right decision.

Real Madrid 2-1 Galatasaray

Starting the match brillliantly in Bernabeu, Selcuk Inan scored the opener from close range on 10 minutes after Eboue sold a great dummy to Sergio Ramos and crossed it for the Turkish playmaker. Sergio Ramos levelled it on 34' with a strong header while Real Madrid looked all but dominant in the second half, only getting one goal through Karim Benzema on 56'. Muslera, Melo, Kazım Kazım, Eboue and Ujfalusi all looked very eager and ready for the new season while Baros and Sabri in particular were disappointing.

It's looking really good with Fatih Terim at the helm so far. Let's see what happens!

[GS1905]

Galatasaray have loaned out Emmnuel Culio to Orduspor for one season.

The former CFR Cluj star, 27, has signed for Galatasaray in January 2011 for a fee of ?1.8M from the Romanian perennial title challengers.

The tiny Argentine was rumoured to be on his way out as new coach Fatih Terim did not really like his style of play in the midfield.

The combative midfielder who was fast becoming a fan favourite at the club with his tenacious style on the pitch, played in 15 matches last season and scored 4 goals and made 4 assists.

Orduspor have paid ?350k for the loan fee and can buy Culio's rights for ?1.6M any time until May 31, 2012.

Culio became the fourth fan favourite player Galatasaray parted ways with after the appointment of Terim. The other players were Harry Kewell, Lucas Neill and Lorik Cana.

Goodbye DraCulio!! :(

[Euro2004]

Galatasary have made some excellent moves this year. Elmander will be a hit in my opinion, while Melo will def add a presence in midfield. Ujfalusi i'm not keen on, i think he's way past his best but from what i hear he's started brightly. I'm an Arsenal fan and the rumours are hotting up about Eboue and he'd be an excellent signing. There's 0% chance of Arshavin leaving us this year though, particularly on a loan so i have no idea where that rumour came from. Galatasary looking good though, and i guess after last season's disaster reinforcements were needed.

[GS1905]

Galatasaray have reached an agreement with Spanish club Atletico Madrid for the sale of 24-year-old captain Arda Turan.

Atletico's interest in the flamboyant attacking midfielder dates back to the winter transfer window of 2009-10 season when their initial offer of €9M was rejected by the Galatasaray board.

Atletico offered €10.5M for the player last season, on the very last day of the summer transfer window. That offer was rejected, too.

Arda expressed his desire to play overseas many times, and it was know that he wanted to go to the Premiership in particular.

Atletico offered €10.5M again for the player last week but the CimBom board rejected that offer, too.

It was only when Malaga and Russian outfit Anzhi came into contention to sign the Turkish national team's current topscorer, that Atletico realised they need to increase their offer.

Galatasaray accepted Atletico's offer of €12.2M plus bonuses two days ago, and Arda signed a 5-year contract with the Madrid club, getting €2.5M a season.

Arda appeared in 194 matches for Galatasaray and is the club's all-time assists leader with 77 assists. He also scored 46 goals in his six-and-a-half pro years at the club.

Arda came through the youth ranks of Galatasaray after being signed to the club's Youth Academy in 2000 when he was 13 from Altintepsi Makelspor. He instantly showed his brilliance in the U14 and U16 teams in 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons as he played more than 50 games in 2 seasons in those age groups.

After a superb 2002-03 start to the U16 season, scoring 4 goals and making 5 assists in 2 games against Fenerbahce and Sakaryaspor in the Coca Cola U16 Academy League, Arda was instantly promoted to the then-PAF (current A2, U20) team. He became one of the youngest ever players to play in the PAF League, breaking into his first starters' appearance when he was 15 years and 294 days old.

Arda spent the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons at the PAF level, playing in 53 matches and scoring 11 goals in his not-so-much favoured central midfield role, wearing the #6 shirt. Galatasaray PAF team easily won the PAF League.

In 2004-05 season, Arda was a member of the PAF team, but this time he generally appeared in his favourite left-midfielder role. He was a constant nuisance for all the oppositions as he helped Galatasaray win the PAF League second time in a row. He scored 6 goals and had 20 assists in 25 appearances.

Arda made his first A team appearance this season, as he played against Bursaspor in the Turkish Cup on January 22, 2005.

After a dull spell at the A team in the beginning of 2005-06, playing no matches and having suffered two injuries, coach Erik Gerets wanted him to play regular first-team football and let Arda join Vestel Manisaspor on loan for 5 months in January 2006.

Appearing as a right-back and right-winger in Manisa, Arda had a solid loan spell as he scored 4 goals in 14 matches for the Aegean club. His famous assist against Fenerbahce in Matchday 30 of the League had a direct impact on the League, as Galatasaray won the League over Fenerbahce thanks to a crucial loss suffered by the latter in Manisa.

Arda came back from loan in the beginning of 2006-07 season with high hopes of being granted a first-team slot. But much to his dismay, Argentine U23 star Marcelo Adrian Carrusca was signed from Estudiantes La Plata. Arda was clearly confused and disillusioned as the club already had Hasan Şaş, Carrusca, Okan Buruk and Marek Heinz filling the wingers' slots.

After early season injuries to Şaş and Buruk, and with Heinz released, Arda had his chance against the lowly Slovakian side Mlada Boleslav in the Champions' League Qualifier. Wearing #66, as Arda claims it represents his youth jersey #6, Arda had a fabulous outing against the Slovaks, scoring twice and assisting once in a 5-2 victory. Arda was on the lips of all CimBom fans, straight after his European debut at his boyhood club.

Here's his second goal against the Slovakian minnows in his breakout game.

After his superb start to the season, names such as Carrusca and Heinz were already forgotten. Despite a rather notorious headbutting incident in the game against Bordeaux in the Champions' League Group Stage, the 19-year-old sensation had a great debut season as he finished the season with 6 goals and 11 assists in 36 games.

In 2007-08 season with the marquee signings Shabani Nonda, Lincoln and Tobias Linderoth, young Arda was reckoned as a weapon, but not the biggest weapon in the club by the press and the fans. The #66 strongly showed that people were wrong. Capping off a fantastic season by a hat-trick in matchday 33 against title-challenging rivals Sivasspor, Arda finished the season with 44 matches, 8 goals, and 18 assists.

Galatasaray were the pundits' favourites for the 2008-09 season under young German coach Michael Skibbe. The additions of Milan Baros, now a club-legend Harry Kewell and Portuguese defender Meira to an already-strong core made people wonder if CimBom would break the total points record come the end of the season.

A good first-half of the season showing by CimBom was marred by a captaincy crisis in Berlin as Galatasaray Board gave the team's captaincy role to Brazilian Lincoln, a move which angered Arda, Sabri, Aydın and Uğur, the young players of the team who all came through the youth ranks.

The Brazilian retained the captaincy in the end but a shock sacking of Skibbe after a blowout loss to Kocaelispor at home meant club legend Bulent Korkmaz took charge of the club. In an attempt to change the club's fading fortunes he stripped the captaincy off Lincoln and handed it over to long-serving Ayhan. This attempt completely backfired as Lincoln had a disastrous second half of a season, most of which he sat down in the bench. Galatasaray only managed a fifth-place finish securing a UEFA Europa League berth on the last match day of the season. Arda was partly to blame according to some of the loyal fans as he was the main reason for the captaincy argument that helped the club hit the lows.

With the appointment of Frank Rijkaard as manager, and class-act signings like Elano and Kader Keita, CimBom were once again the favourites to win the League in 2009-10.

The Galatasaray board took a bold step and gave the captaincy to Arda Turan in the beginning of the season. At 22, he became the youngest captain in Galatasaray's 106 year-long history. He was also given the #10 shirt, the legendary shirt of Galatasaray as it was worn by club legends such as Metin Oktay and Gheorghe Hagi.

"The Little Captain" as he was called by the fans, had a great start to the season in a brand-new M LC role in a very strict Dutch 4-3-3. He scored for six games in a row, and also formed a great partnership with Kewell on the left side of the team's attack.

After a fair share of career-threatening injuries to key players like Milan Baros, Tobias Linderoth, Sabri Sarıoğlu and Shabani Nonda, Galatasaray had a mid-season slump and despite quality additions like Jo, Giovani and Lucas Neill, the team never recovered in time to challenge Bursaspor and Fenerbahce on the top of the league.

Being injured for a while himself, Arda wanted to make a surprise to his girlfriend and bought out all the tickets for a movie in a cinema in Istanbul for a romantic night. This move was utterly unaccepted by the loyal fans and they even turned their backs on Arda when he had the ball against Diyarbakırspor in Matchday 27. Arda was furious and expressed his desire to leave not only Galatasaray, but also Turkey because he was fed up with the ongoing social policeness going around him.

Despite repeated offers from Atletico in the summer of 2010, Arda stayed at CimBom stating he wanted to join a top-tier Premier League side. He was the team's main force of power in the Europa League qualifiers against OFK Beograd but recurring injuries to his thigh and groin chopped his season completely.

He had an osteitis pubis surgery in November 2010, and hardly featured in his team's struggling season in 2011. Arda's last official match wearing a Galatasaray jersey was the game against Konyaspor on Matchday 34 of the 2010-11 season.

Arda has 44 caps for Turkey and is already scorer of 11 goals, most famous of which is here.

Good Luck Kaptan!!! Please wear #14 or #66 in there and not the lacklustre #10, ok? ;)

Galatasaray Official Website - Goodbye Message to Arda [in Turkish]

[haydar]

Galatasaray have reached an agreement with Spanish club Atletico Madrid for the sale of 24-year-old captain Arda Turan.

Atletico's interest in the flamboyant attacking midfielder dates back to the winter transfer window of 2009-10 season when their initial offer of €9M was rejected by the Galatasaray board.

Atletico offered €10.5M for the player last season, on the very last day of the summer transfer window. That offer was rejected, too.

Arda expressed his desire to play overseas many times, and it was know that he wanted to go to the Premiership in particular.

Atletico offered €10.5M again for the player last week but the CimBom board rejected that offer, too.

It was only when Malaga and Russian outfit Anzhi came into contention to sign the Turkish national team's current topscorer, that Atletico realised they need to increase their offer.

Galatasaray accepted Atletico's offer of €12.2M plus bonuses two days ago, and Arda signed a 5-year contract with the Madrid club, getting €2.5M a season.

Arda appeared in 194 matches for Galatasaray and is the club's all-time assists leader with 77 assists. He also scored 46 goals in his six-and-a-half pro years at the club.

Arda came through the youth ranks of Galatasaray after being signed to the club's Youth Academy in 2000 when he was 13 from Altintepsi Makelspor. He instantly showed his brilliance in the U14 and U16 teams in 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons as he played more than 50 games in 2 seasons in those age groups.

After a superb 2002-03 start to the U16 season, scoring 4 goals and making 5 assists in 2 games against Fenerbahce and Sakaryaspor in the Coca Cola U16 Academy League, Arda was instantly promoted to the then-PAF (current A2, U20) team. He became one of the youngest ever players to play in the PAF League, breaking into his first starters' appearance when he was 15 years and 294 days old.

Arda spent the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons at the PAF level, playing in 53 matches and scoring 11 goals in his not-so-much favoured central midfield role, wearing the #6 shirt. Galatasaray PAF team easily won the PAF League.

In 2004-05 season, Arda was a member of the PAF team, but this time he generally appeared in his favourite left-midfielder role. He was a constant nuisance for all the oppositions as he helped Galatasaray win the PAF League second time in a row. He scored 6 goals and had 20 assists in 25 appearances.

Arda made his first A team appearance this season, as he played against Bursaspor in the Turkish Cup on January 22, 2005.

After a dull spell at the A team in the beginning of 2005-06, playing no matches and having suffered two injuries, coach Erik Gerets wanted him to play regular first-team football and let Arda join Vestel Manisaspor on loan for 5 months in January 2006.

Appearing as a right-back and right-winger in Manisa, Arda had a solid loan spell as he scored 4 goals in 14 matches for the Aegean club. His famous assist against Fenerbahce in Matchday 30 of the League had a direct impact on the League, as Galatasaray won the League over Fenerbahce thanks to a crucial loss suffered by the latter in Manisa.

Arda came back from loan in the beginning of 2006-07 season with high hopes of being granted a first-team slot. But much to his dismay, Argentine U23 star Marcelo Adrian Carrusca was signed from Estudiantes La Plata. Arda was clearly confused and disillusioned as the club already had Hasan Şaş, Carrusca, Okan Buruk and Marek Heinz filling the wingers' slots.

After early season injuries to Şaş and Buruk, and with Heinz released, Arda had his chance against the lowly Slovakian side Mlada Boleslav in the Champions' League Qualifier. Wearing #66, as Arda claims it represents his youth jersey #6, Arda had a fabulous outing against the Slovaks, scoring twice and assisting once in a 5-2 victory. Arda was on the lips of all CimBom fans, straight after his European debut at his boyhood club.

Here's his second goal against the Slovakian minnows in his breakout game.

After his superb start to the season, names such as Carrusca and Heinz were already forgotten. Despite a rather notorious headbutting incident in the game against Bordeaux in the Champions' League Group Stage, the 19-year-old sensation had a great debut season as he finished the season with 6 goals and 11 assists in 36 games.

In 2007-08 season with the marquee signings Shabani Nonda, Lincoln and Tobias Linderoth, young Arda was reckoned as a weapon, but not the biggest weapon in the club by the press and the fans. The #66 strongly showed that people were wrong. Capping off a fantastic season by a hat-trick in matchday 33 against title-challenging rivals Sivasspor, Arda finished the season with 44 matches, 8 goals, and 18 assists.

Galatasaray were the pundits' favourites for the 2008-09 season under young German coach Michael Skibbe. The additions of Milan Baros, now a club-legend Harry Kewell and Portuguese defender Meira to an already-strong core made people wonder if CimBom would break the total points record come the end of the season.

A good first-half of the season showing by CimBom was marred by a captaincy crisis in Berlin as Galatasaray Board gave the team's captaincy role to Brazilian Lincoln, a move which angered Arda, Sabri, Aydın and Uğur, the young players of the team who all came through the youth ranks.

The Brazilian retained the captaincy in the end but a shock sacking of Skibbe after a blowout loss to Kocaelispor at home meant club legend Bulent Korkmaz took charge of the club. In an attempt to change the club's fading fortunes he stripped the captaincy off Lincoln and handed it over to long-serving Ayhan. This attempt completely backfired as Lincoln had a disastrous second half of a season, most of which he sat down in the bench. Galatasaray only managed a fifth-place finish securing a UEFA Europa League berth on the last match day of the season. Arda was partly to blame according to some of the loyal fans as he was the main reason for the captaincy argument that helped the club hit the lows.

With the appointment of Frank Rijkaard as manager, and class-act signings like Elano and Kader Keita, CimBom were once again the favourites to win the League in 2009-10.

The Galatasaray board took a bold step and gave the captaincy to Arda Turan in the beginning of the season. At 22, he became the youngest captain in Galatasaray's 106 year-long history. He was also given the #10 shirt, the legendary shirt of Galatasaray as it was worn by club legends such as Metin Oktay and Gheorghe Hagi.

"The Little Captain" as he was called by the fans, had a great start to the season in a brand-new M LC role in a very strict Dutch 4-3-3. He scored for six games in a row, and also formed a great partnership with Kewell on the left side of the team's attack.

After a fair share of career-threatening injuries to key players like Milan Baros, Tobias Linderoth, Sabri Sarıoğlu and Shabani Nonda, Galatasaray had a mid-season slump and despite quality additions like Jo, Giovani and Lucas Neill, the team never recovered in time to challenge Bursaspor and Fenerbahce on the top of the league.

Being injured for a while himself, Arda wanted to make a surprise to his girlfriend and bought out all the tickets for a movie in a cinema in Istanbul for a romantic night. This move was utterly unaccepted by the loyal fans and they even turned their backs on Arda when he had the ball against Diyarbakırspor in Matchday 27. Arda was furious and expressed his desire to leave not only Galatasaray, but also Turkey because he was fed up with the ongoing social policeness going around him.

Despite repeated offers from Atletico in the summer of 2010, Arda stayed at CimBom stating he wanted to join a top-tier Premier League side. He was the team's main force of power in the Europa League qualifiers against OFK Beograd but recurring injuries to his thigh and groin chopped his season completely.

He had an osteitis pubis surgery in November 2010, and hardly featured in his team's struggling season in 2011. Arda's last official match wearing a Galatasaray jersey was the game against Konyaspor on Matchday 34 of the 2010-11 season.

Arda has 44 caps for Turkey and is already scorer of 11 goals, most famous of which is here.

Good Luck Kaptan!!! Please wear #14 or #66 in there and not the lacklustre #10, ok?  ;)

Galatasaray Official Website - Goodbye Message to Arda [in Turkish]

Arda found his value by going to athletico with 12M fee. As far as i know Galatasaray offered him more than Athletico's offer, but he wated to play in La Liga. I hope he will be succsessfull. Athletico made a good choice Arda is young also he got many responsibilities he is capable to lead the team at the middle.

It is clear Athletico bought the best footballer of Turkey. Also they couldn't buy him if the issue was only money that Galatasaray never thought to sell him to Athletico, Arda wanted to play in La Liga.

[GS1905]

Two recent and in fact decent rumours... ;)

- According to the Guardian, Emmanuel Eboue will fly to Istanbul to have his final check-ups before signing a 3-year contract with Galatasaray on Tuesday. The Ivorian utility player who can play in a multiple list of positions, will get €1.7M a season plus bonuses. Galatasaray will pay Arsenal something in the region of €4.5M.

- According to sporx.com and Abdel Kader Keita's agent's partner Marc Guy, the Ivorian former Galatasaray player has pleaded to Al-Sadd to join Galatasaray after coach Terim and chairman Aysal distinctly mentioned their interest in bringing back the Dark Knight. Sporx states that the deal for Keita will be year's loan in which Galatasaray will have the option to buy the 30-year old creative attacker.

The fans who feel a little insecure after losing Arda with the first kick-off nearing, are on cloud eight with these news. They'll be on the ninth if they see these deals materialise, especially Keita's...

:tup:

[GS1905]

Galatasaray is widely expected to announce the signings of Emmanuel Eboue, Kader Keita and Engin Baytar this week.

Eboue will sign a 3-yr contract worth around €1.7M a season.

Keita will join on loan until May 31, 2012 and Galatasaray will have the option to buy him. The option to buy fee is not disclosed yet but it is estimated to be around €4M. Galatasaray will also pay €800k for securing the loan from Al-Sadd.

The Lions have also started negotiations with Trabzonspor for the ambidextrous winger Engin Baytar, who fell out with coach Şenol Guneş and was transfer-listed. Trabzonspor wants €1M + Cağlar Birinci while Galatasaray is offering €1.3M + Emre Colak on loan for a year.

A few English and Turkish websites also claim Galatasaray is after Chelsea's 30-year old Israeli playmaker Yossi Benayoun.

[haydar]

Galatasaray is widely expected to announce the signings of Emmanuel Eboue, Kader Keita and Engin Baytar this week.

Eboue will sign a 3-yr contract worth around €1.7M a season.

Keita will join on loan until May 31, 2012 and Galatasaray will have the option to buy him. The option to buy fee is not disclosed yet but it is estimated to be around €4M. Galatasaray will also pay €800k for securing the loan from Al-Sadd.

The Lions have also started negotiations with Trabzonspor for the ambidextrous winger Engin Baytar, who fell out with coach Şenol Guneş and was transfer-listed. Trabzonspor wants €1M + Cağlar Birinci while Galatasaray is offering €1.3M + Emre Colak on loan for a year.

A few English and Turkish websites also claim Galatasaray is after Chelsea's 30-year old Israeli playmaker Yossi Benayoun.

Eboue is officially in Galatasaray, signed 4 years contract. Galatasaray need a defender like Eboue maybe he is more useful than Melo. Now Kader Keita and Engin Baytar is waiting however i don't beleive non of these players will replace Arda. We need a good playmaker such as Arshavin or equvalent.

http://www.galatasaray.org/index.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eT-qhiimTM

[GS1905]

We'll never get Arşavin this year, Arsene Wenger is not stupid to let go his sole creator force after losing Nasri and Fabregas in two days.

Eboue is in deed a good signing. Initial changes from the original offer is we are paying the guy €2.5M in his first two seasons, €2.2M in this third and €2M on his fourth with €10k per game contract-long. We have paid Arsenal €2M for his fee, and will pay €1.5M in three installments (€450k in October, €500k in January and €550k in April) making the deal a very profitable €3M for a 28-yr old top quality right-back and a utility player.

Eboue joins CimBom!!

Well, we are definitely going to miss Arda, both emotionally and usagewise, but we must consider that the board have done a fantastic job to deal him for €12.3M. To get that amount of money for a player who only played in 11 league games previous season is superb. I sincerely hope Arda will do well in Atletico and go on to achieve bigger things.

The new rumour is we are selling Milan Baros to Zenit for €7M, and going for Didier Drogba with the money cashed. I do hope this does not materialise; a) Baros is a great striker for our system when he's fit, b] Baros is 29 and Drogba is 33, Baros can still offer 4-5 years of top-tier performance while Drogba has max. 2 years left and c) Having Elmander, Stancu and Anıl, it's highly doubtful that we need another striker. Some rumours also consider this story as a €4M paid by Zenit for Baros + loaning Alessandro Rosina from them for a year with an option to buy.

And even if nothing's officially declared yet, this is what I want to shout in TT ArenA this season:

LaLaLa La LaLaaaa, Abdul Kader KEITAAAAA!!! :tup: :tup: :tup:

[GS1905]

Galatasaray vice-chairman Ali Durust today spoke to Doğan News Agency, and stated that the Galatasaray board have rejected a €6M offer for Czech striker Milan Baros.

He added that the Board is doing their best to bring Kader Keita back to Istanbul. The Ivorian volatile winger wants to re-join the Lions after his big-money no-happiness stint at Qatari club Al Sadd.

Keita joined Galatasaray from Lyon in July 2009 for €7.7M. The agreement between the French club and CimBom was that Galatasaray pays €2M straight away, and then three installments in 2010, 2011 and 2012 with the French club getting €1.9M in each installment.

After Galatasaray paid €2M and €1.9M in January 2010, they decided to sell Keita to Al Sadd for €8,150,000 in July 2010. Al Sadd also accepted to pay Keita's remaining installments to Lyon in 2011 and 2012. So, Galatasaray paid only €3.9M for Keita to Lyon and actually sold the player for €11.9M to the Qatari club. Keita, who was earning €1.2M in Lyon, got €2.1M at Galatasaray, and signed a three-year deal with Al Sadd, worth €4.5M a season. Al Sadd paid the €1.9M installment to Lyon, resulting from Keita's transfer from Lyon to Galatasaray.

Keita now says he wants to come back to CimBom, and will settle for €1.8M a season. Al Sadd wants to sell the player rather than loaning him out. Al Sadd directors say they want Galatasaray to pay €4M cash plus cover the €1.9M installment owed to Lyon due January 2012.

Ali Durust says Galatasaray will only settle for a loan deal and have made their latest offer to the Qatari club.

We'll see how the Kader saga will be sorted.

[GS1905]

After Galatasaray sold Arda Turan to Atletico Madrid and could not reach an agreement with Al Sadd for the services of Abdel Kader Keita, a bid has been tabled for 1.FC Koln forward Lukas Podolski.

The German strugglers were offered €4.7M for Podolski's services. The German club is yet to declare if they've rejected or accepted the offer.

Podolski, 25, says he wants to join Galatasaray as he "missed" being a title contender at Koln. Podolski will settle for €2M per year according to reports.

[Euro2004]

WOW! Elmander-Podolski up front. Superb!

[haydar]

WOW! Elmander-Podolski up front. Superb!

Podolski wants to come Galatasaray that GS offered 3M per year to Podolski however Koln made and announcement that they will not let Podolski to go...

Shortly Koln rejected 9M fee, even Podolski wants to come it seems Koln will not allow to him to go.

Meanwhile i watch Elmander few match in Galatasaray, this guy is forcing to play however it seems that he will have trouble to closed deffence, he can't pass deffenders face to face. Or he is still not ready to play, sure he deserves too much time, i am just guessing as a viewer who doesn't know his football yet.

[GS1905]

Bogdan Stancu, Romanian striker who played 13 matches last season after joining in January, is set to follow Juan Culio to Orduspor after agreeing a 1-year long loan spell.

The 23-year old forward who expressed his wish to remain at CimBom was hardly given any chance of a regular place in the team after Baros' scintillating form in the pre-season and the signing of Johan Elmander.

[Euro2004]

Podolski wants to come Galatasaray that GS offered 3M per year to Podolski however Koln made and announcement that they will not let Podolski to go...

Shortly Koln rejected 9M fee, even Podolski wants to come it seems Koln will not allow to him to go. 

Meanwhile i watch Elmander few match in Galatasaray, this guy is forcing to play however it seems that he will have trouble to closed deffence, he can't pass deffenders face to face. Or he is still not ready to play, sure he deserves too much time, i am just guessing as a viewer who doesn't know his football yet.

Hi Haydar,

Yes Elmander is not skillful. He won't beat players face to face but he's good in the air and with his back to goal so if Galatasary get the ball out wide and put in good crosses i'm sure he will do well. He's quite similar to Huge Almeida at Besiktas. He isn't a super star but in France he averaged 1 in 3 which is decent in the French league because it's quite tight and cagey. If he can better than in Turkey, 1 in 2.5 games for example then it will be a good signing. In general though with Eboue, Melo, Muslera, etc, you guys have made some very good moves and IF Podolski signs it will be amazing. Just a shame Arda had to be sold.

By the way guys i've heard very good things about a player Besiktas bought from the Turkish 2nd division called Mehmet Akyuz but i have never seen him play. Is he good? Will he play at Besiktas?

[GS1905]

Problem is Euro, we will be playing a Fatih Terimish press'press'press 4-3-3 in which wingers act like drifted forwards and there are hardly any crosses in, just like Turkey's 4-3-3 in EURO 2008. There will be a lot of pressing and harrassing when the opp has the ball so Elmander seems suitable for that role than Baros. But it's Baros who scores 1 goal in 1.9 strikes since his arrival and as long as he continues to score, nobody can take him out.

I feel Elmander can be a wandering forward rather than a target man and play on the wings of the new system. With him and Kazım on the wings, more space can be created for Sabri in his new central-right midfielder role and Selcuk in his playmaker role to make overlaps from midfield. I'm not stating the obvious here, as Eboue will be the key overlapper in this team down the right.

We still need to increase quality in our Turkish players' side. Selcuk is a key signing, and it would have been perfect if we could have kept Arda who I believe left his bad seasons behind. With the likes of Gokhan Zan who can get injured from his shoulder any time, Servet who is mistake-prone, Sabri who can play in multiple positions but still doesn't know how to cross the ball at 27, Hakan Balta who is a defensive full-back who couldn't defend last year and a potentially petulant Kazım Kazım, our Turkish spine doesn't look very impressive. It's very good to bring top-notch players like Baros, Ujfalusi, Felipe Melo and Muslera but you have to possess top quality Turkish players when you have 6 max-foreigners on the pitch rule.

About Beşiktaş's new signing Mehmet Akyuz, he was a prolific striker for Tavşanlı Linyitspor in the First Division last year and scored 13 in 30 matches. He carried his newly-promoted team to promotion playoffs. He is more like a Nuno Gomes-like target man, not very tall but has great ball retention skills. His reputation will cause him trouble at Beşiktaş as having Almeida, Mustafa Pektemek and Burak Kaplan as strikers plus the injured Bebe, it will be interesting to see how Beşiktaş public and caretaker Carvalhal approaches him.

Having watched him live last season, he is better than Mustafa Pektemek in my opinion.

[GS1905]

Galatasaray playing Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabeu Cup match.. well.. err.. friendly, anyway..

First half score: 1-1..

Galatasaray started the match with a pressing 4-4-1-1 formation.

------------------------------------Muslera----------------------------------

----Ujfalusi--------------Gokhan-----------Servet----------H. Balta------

----Eboue-----------------Melo-------------Selcuk----------Kazım--------

-------------------------------------Sabri------------------------------------

-------------------------------------Baros------------------------------------

Sabri played in the hole, starting the attacking pressure very early on and Galatasaray seemed to gel well in the beginning and a great dribble down the left side by Eboue was completed with a neat finish from Selcuk to give Galatasaray the lead on 11 minutes.

Real then took charge of the game despite creating no chances, dominated possession and scored from a corner after Ramos headed an Alonso set piece on 35 minutes.

Galatasaray are really looking impressive in this one!! :tup:

Muslera and Felipe Melo have been utterly spectacular so far!! :nw: :nw: :nw:

[GS1905]

According to rumours today, Galatasaray is interested in Albert Riera of Olympiakos.

Chairman Unal Aysal is flying to Greece tomorrow to meet with OSFP officials according to sporx.com.

It is reported that Olympiakos will ask for €5M while Riera will ask for a 3-year contract worth €3M per season.

Riera impressed Fatih Terim in the 1-0 friendly loss to Olympiakos two weeks ago.

This can be a fresh start for a problematic left-wing position as Galatasaray have failed to reach an agreement for players Kader Keita, Lukas Podolski and Yossi Benayaoun since Arda's departure.

CimBom target Riera

[GS1905]

Chairman Unal Aysal talked to NtvSpor at around 10 pm and said the club and the agent of Ghanaian vice-captain Sulley Ali Muntari have reached an agreement in basic principles regarding the signing of the aforementioned player.

Muntari who can play as an anchor man, centre midfielder and left midfielder has just been released from Italian giants Inter Milan and is looking for a suitable club to join.

Olympiakos' interest in the Ghanaian utility player was cooled off after they reached an agreement with Camerounian midfielder Jean Makoun. A host of other teams including Parma, Lille, Lorient and Steaua Bucureşti were chasing the player but he looks set to join Galatasaray.

Nothing has been reported yet about his contract but, rumours inside the club say he will sign a 2-year contract, earning ?350k per season plus ?20k for each game he plays. If those are the prices, it's a superb signing.

Manager Fatih Terim was not pleased with the depth in the centre-midfield and left-wing slots as most of summer departures were playing in either of these positions (Kewell, Cana, Barış, Pino, Culio and Stancu).

Galatasaray currently has 9 foreigners under contract, 6 of whom are at the club. Fernando Muslera, Felipe Melo, Tomas Ujfalusi, Emmanuel Eboue and Johan Elmander are all new signings while long-serving Milan Baros completes the current foreigners list.

Bogdan Stancu and Juan Emmanuel Culio have both been loaned out to newly-promoted Orduspor. Juan Pablo Pino was loaned out to Al-Nassr Saudi FC of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia yesterday.

With the addition of Muntari, one of the seven foreigners will be sitting on the bench as the Spor Toto Turkish League rules allow teams to field 6 foreign players, whilst 2 can remain on the bench.

With the current formation leaning towards a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-1-1, the most possible candidate seems to be either one of the two strikers, Baros or Elmander.

The team's possible formation will look like;

-----------------------------------Muslera------------------------------

---Ujfalusi--------Gokhan Zan----------Servet---------H. Balta-----

-----------------Felipe Melo----------------Muntari--------------------

----------------------------------Selcuk---------------------------------

---Eboue-------------------Baros (Elmander)------Kazım Kazım----

It looks very very impressive to me...

Only worries are;

- The back 4 -if it remains as above- seems to be quite slow as a unit as Zan and Servet are very vulnerable to pace (see. Mirallas goal in Olympiakos v G'Saray match)

- Unless Muntari can perform like his Portsmouth days, our left wing will be very limited in terms of attack and Balta is a defence-first full-back while Kazım Kazım is more of an inside forward rather than an attacking winger.

Let's see what happens!! :wub:

[GS1905]

Galatasaray's Sportif A.Ş. Branch has declared on Public Enlightenment Platform of Turkey (KAP) that they have started negotiations with Olympiakos player Albert Riera.

Talks with Riera

[GS1905]

Galatasaray's Sportif A.Ş. Branch has declared on Public Enlightenment Platform of Turkey (KAP) that they have started negotiations with Olympiakos player Albert Riera.

Talks with Riera

Galatasaray have declared on their web site that they've signed Albert Riera from Olympiakos.

The Greek club will be paid €3M in total for the player's services.

Riera has signed a 3+1 year contract, earning a total of €11.6 if the +1 option is secured.

The club will declare later what number he will wear this season.

[haydar]

Galatasaray's Sportif A.Ş. Branch has declared on Public Enlightenment Platform of Turkey (KAP) that they have started negotiations with Olympiakos player Albert Riera.

Talks with Riera

Galatasaray have declared on their web site that they've signed Albert Riera from Olympiakos.

The Greek club will be paid €3M in total for the player's services.

Riera has signed a 3+1 year contract, earning a total of €11.6 if the +1 option is secured.

The club will declare later what number he will wear this season.

Dear Greek friends,

What do you think about the Riera transfer. I heard that Olympiakos bought him to 6M selling to 3M, is this correct if yes why?

[GS1905]

Galatasaray's Sportif A.Ş. Branch has declared on Public Enlightenment Platform of Turkey (KAP) that they have started negotiations with Olympiakos player Albert Riera.

Talks with Riera

Galatasaray have declared on their web site that they've signed Albert Riera from Olympiakos.

The Greek club will be paid €3M in total for the player's services.

Riera has signed a 3+1 year contract, earning a total of €11.6 if the +1 option is secured.

The club will declare later what number he will wear this season.

Dear Greek friends,

What do you think about the Riera transfer. I heard that Olympiakos bought him to 6M selling to 3M, is this correct if yes why?

haydar, the Olympiakos fans' views about Riera are mixed from what I see.

Some consider him as a failure. The main reason for that view is the price he was bought for, and the annual wage he was getting. Olympiakos fans expected a Rivaldo-like performance from him after the club secured the player's services for about €6M and it was declared the player would get €2.5M per year. The 6 goals in 26 matches was not pleasing for many fans, as a result.

Riera is also known to be a very conflictuous character as he previously had arguments with his coaches in Bordeaux and Liverpool. He did not have any known problems with Olympiakos coach Ernesto Valverde last season, but the clash of personalities when Fatih Terim is in charge is always a risk.

On the other hand, we know Terim wanted Riera like mad since the beginning of the transfer window.

Obviously some Galatasaray fans are asking, why get rid of Harry Kewell who was getting €700k a season and loved the club and the fans, and replace him with a similar player who scores less frequently, and triple the wage the Aussie was earning? I could say that is a fair comment, but putting our love for Kewell aside, Riera is much more reliable in terms of staying healthy for longer periods of the season.

It is really up to us and to what we expect from Riera. If we make the mistake we did with Elano, we'll be miserably disappointed. Let me explain what this means.

When Elano was signed from Manchester City FC after playing over 70 games in 2 seasons, the fans' expectation from Elano was simply dominating the league. Some even considered him equals with Xavi! As Elano was getting €3.2M a season, the fans expected him to turn out performances like 2 assists per game, which never materialised as Elano was always a supportive/complimentary player rather than a main one thruout his career. So the Elano experiment was a miserable failure, as fans regarded him as a Ronaldinho or a Xavi, which he was never meant to be!

If we do the same thing with Riera, and think he is a fitter Harry Kewell and expect him to play with 0.4 goals per game like Harry did, we will be disappointed. We will also be broken hearted if we think he is another Arda, playing in the left flank and cutting inside to play one-twos all game. Riera is the sort of forgotten typical type winger, who has one or two tricks to go past his man and deliver crosses in to the scoring zone. If he gels with the team, he can make Baros and Elmander score a lot of goals with his accurate crossies. Expect him to have 10-12 assists by the end of the season, but do not expect him to be an Arjen Robben or Samir Nasri just because he's getting €2.7M for the season.

That's my take on Riera. I hope it helps... ;)