The club may be recently criticized for being too inactive during the current transfer window, but Galatasaray chairman Adnan Polat said the board is in the market in search for no less than five players.
Speaking at a press conference held in Istanbul’s Swissotel on Thursday, chairman of the Turkcell Super League club was discrete as usual, but gave a few hints to the fans, who are eagerly waiting for some transfer action from the club.
Earlier this week, the Lions’ fans were shocked to see that there was a transfer move, but in the opposite direction than they were expecting. Enthusiastic winger Abdel Kader Keita was sold to Qatar’s Al Sadd for a fee of eight million euros.
Polat said every transfer move at the Istanbul club should be made considering the financial situation.
“Being in heavy debt should not be Galatasaray’s fate,” said Polat. “First, we should make the sales that will give us some budget, then we do the incoming transfers.”
The chairman added that the transfer fee received from Keita is a club record. Adding the reported four million euros received from defensive midfielder Mehmet Topal, who moved to Spanish heavyweight Valencia, Polat said Galatasaray football club got its biggest total transfer fee income in a season.
Polat added that apart from the financial side, coach Frank Rijkaard’s approval was granted in every single one of the transfer moves.
“We had our meetings after the season ended on mid-May and talked about in which positions we need improvements and which players can be bought and which players will be sent,” said Polat.
Galatasaray signed five Turkish players during the transfer window, including Bucaspor’s towering striker Mehmet Batdal, midfielders Serdar Özkan from Beşiktaş and Musa Çağıran of Altay as well as defenders Ali Turan of Kayserispor and Çağlar Birinci from Denizlispor.
Polat said: “We made some important additions as well, and I can’t see why the media write that we are not buying any players.”
Stoch incident
In June, Galatasaray spent weeks trying to purchase Chelsea’s Miroslav Stoch, but archrival Fenerbahçe signed the Slovakian starlet with a last-minute attack.
“It is not that important,” said Polat of the transfer upset. “But we never got in the market trying to get a player that our rivals are chasing. But then again, we can do the same to them in the future. If such a thing happens, they should not get angry now.”
The chairman added that five more foreign players are on the way but declined to give any more details on that, joking: “Don’t ask me about football, I don’t understand anything about the game.”
Board member Murat Yalçındağ said at least three of the five players will join the pre-season training sessions in the Netherlands starting on Sunday.
The transfer is only another issue on Galatasaray’s agenda. Polat said there are “revolutionary” improvements coming in the next six months, with the expected opening of the new stadium Türk Telekom Arena being one of them.
Polat said everything is going the way it is planned with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality executing transport projects that link the stadium in Seyrantepe to other central points and roads of Istanbul.
Galatasaray will play its home games at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium in the first part of the Turkcell Super League and will switch to the Türk Telekom Arena in midseason if the new stadium is opened in January. If any problems cause a delay, the outcome may be disastrous for Galatasaray.
“If we face another half season delay, it will cost us about $25 million,”
