Many stars are signed, a new sponsor has arrived and a dazzling amount of money has been injected from the broadcaster for a league that just had its fifth champion. But really, will anything change in the Turkish Super League?
Is it going to be the milestone season where everything changes in the Turkish Super League, or will it be just another season of dull football, disappointing results in continental challenges, endless debates and conspiracy theories off the pitch?
The new season for the Turkish top-flight football league kicks off this weekend. Once again, the teams are about to start the new season with numerous transfers, some of them top-class stars in Europe.
Last year, Turkey had a brand-new champion, this year it has a brand-new league title. Spor Toto, the state-run sports betting company, acquired the naming rights of the Super League to put an end to the Turkcell Super League era.
The reported deal with Spor Toto is worth $125 million for five years, which is more than double the reported amount that the telecommunications company had offered. The change of naming rights was a goal of Digiturk, the official broadcaster. That says enough about the changing face of the Turkish league.
In January, Digiturk won the broadcasting rights for $1.9 billion for four years, almost four times the previous deal, also made by the same channel. With that amount, the Turkish league became the sixth most expensive in terms of broadcasting rights in Europe.
With that money bound to be injected into the clubs, teams found new assets and cashed in on new players. A dazzling 279 players were bought by 18 clubs in the division, who sent out 225 players. The total money spent on transfers equals 59.9 million euros, which ranks seventh in European leagues. However, with Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş, “the big three” of Istanbul, still in the market for at least one more player, the total of 72.7 million euros from last year may be easily surpassed, considering that there are more than two weeks to go.
As usual, it was Fenerbahçe who spent the biggest amount during the transfer window. The Yellow Canaries, who became the first Turkish club to make it to the top 20 of the Deloitte Money League, the list of largest revenue-generating football clubs, spent 14 million euros on three players, Issiar Dia from Nancy, Miroslav Stoch from Chelsea and Caner Erkin from CSKA Moscow.
Despite the big spending, it may be argued that Fenerbahçe is still in a chaotic condition now: None of the new signings look likely to lead the side, as can be proven by coach Aykut Kocaman seeking a new striker, reportedly Mamadou Niang of Marseille. The main burden of shouldering the club, meanwhile, is likely to continue resting with Alex de Souza and Emre Belözoğlu.
The runner-up on the list, Beşiktaş, was probably the most popular when it comes to big signings. The Black Eagles splurged and spent about 9 million euros, bringing superstars Ricardo Quaresma from Inter Milan and Guti from Real Madrid.
Quaresma and Guti will bring stardust to İnönü Stadium, but with hours to go before the first kick-off, the Black Eagles could not decide which foreign players would make the cut. With 12 foreign players, two more than the league regulations allow, Beşiktaş is still chasing an international striker. Tragicomically, the Istanbul side was somewhat relieved to see that Czech defender Tomas Sivok was injured, as that will sideline him for more than six months. Being overjoyed to see one of the team’s most consistent performers injured says more than enough about Beşiktaş’s season planning.
Galatasaray was more economical this year compared to last season’s transfer frenzy that included purchasing Brazilian star Elano, Ivory Coast winger Abdel Kader Keita, Argentine goalkeeper Leo Franco, Australian solid rock Lucas Neill and borrowing Jo from Manchester City and Giovani dos Santos from Tottenham Hotspur. This summer, the Lions obtained six Turkish players on virtually free transfers and signed Albanian combative midfielder Lorik Cana from Sunderland and tricky attacker Juan Pablo Pino from Monaco for a combined fee of 7.5 million euros, which was compensated easily by the sale of Keita to Qatar’s Al Sadd for 8 million euros. The selling of Mehmet Topal to Valencia for 5.5 million euros proved Galatasaray has finally learned to be economical during a transfer window.
Those moves were positive on the financial side, but the team still lacks the depth it had last year. Although it has at least two great options on both wings – Elano, Pino, Harry Kewell and Arda Turan are all quality players that can play on both sides – Galatasaray still has to endure the limited abilities of Ayhan Akman, Barış Özbek and Mustafa Sarp in the middle. The trio was highly criticized by Galatasaray fans as well as pundits, and Cana’s passionate play may not be enough to make his mates look any better.
Defending champion Bursaspor, which became only the fifth team ever to claim the Turkish title and the first from outside of Istanbul in 26 years, managed to keep hold of its young stars that helped it win the title. The Crocs managed to ride out the pressure from other clubs hoping to purchase striker Sercan Yıldırım as well as wingers Volkan Şen and Ozan İpek and bought in a trio of Argentine players for affordable fees.
Preserving the core that won the team’s historic title was a clever move by coach Ertuğrul Sağlam, but Bursaspor’s success in both the Spor Toto Super League and the Champions League will highly depend on whether strikers Federico Insua and Leonel Nunez and winger Hector Steinert can fit in with the Crocs’ methodical style. It can be said that the first test, a 3-0 defeat against Ziraat Cup winner Trabzonspor in the Turkish Super Cup, was not a good omen for the club.
Trabzonspor looks to be in the best shape of all the contenders. With the arrival of former Turkey coach Şenol Güneş in the second part of previous season, Trabzon showed signs that this could be its year after a 26-year drought. Only small but promising adjustments were made to a team who was solid in its core, with Brazilian forward Jaja from Metalist and Polish defender Arkadiusz Glowacki from Wisla Krakow joining.
If Jaja produces a fine all-South American cooperation with compatriot Alanzinho, Colombian striker Teofilo Gutierrez and Gustavo Colman of Argentina, Trabzonspor may be its most creative in years.
With five contenders, this is likely to be the most open title race in the Turkish top-flight league in years. However, the big money spent does not necessarily translate into successful signings as deep squads do not always create harmonious teams on the pitch and – moreover – coaches with well-decorated careers do not always win trophies in Turkey. Ask Frank Rijkaard, who was thought to be the guarantee for Galatasaray’s title last year but could only drive the team to third.
The Dutchman, who enjoyed glorious heights with Barcelona, will try to win the title again this time, but Bernd Schuster, his one-time rival at Real Madrid, will be attempting to do it for Beşiktaş. Coach Kocaman will be fighting for his life at Fenerbahçe, where the last time a Turkish coach finished the season was Mustafa Denizli in 2001. Even without feeling the heat of the Istanbul media as much, the jobs of Sağlam and Güneş will not be easy at all, again.
At the end of the day, all is possible in a league where winner takes all and the rest will be forced to wear the label “loser.”
