Who is Arda Guler that Real Madrid competing with half of Europe to sign him?
Arda Güler (Altindag, 2-25-2005) is predestined. In 2021, at just 16 years, five months and 25 days, he made his debut with Fenerbahçe in the Europa League under the guidance of Vítor Pereira. A year ago, when Mesut Özil’s departure was made official , he did not hesitate to ‘inherit’ the number 10 of the ‘yellow canaries’.
Arda became, during his time at ‘Fener’, a kind of ‘godson’ for the former Real Madrid player. “A super goal and a super assist. Quality. He will be a world star”, he predicted in March 2022. Özil went one step further when, a few days ago, he was asked: Is there a ’10’ better than you? “Difficult question. A name occurs to me, I have a brother in whom I believe, I hope that God protects him from the evil eye: he is Arda Güler”.
A reciprocal admiration. “For a young footballer, the feeling of playing side by side with one of his idols is an indescribable happiness. Thank you for everything you taught me, from what I learned watching your videos when I was little to the days when we shared a team”, Güler wrote after Özil’s withdrawal.
🟡🔵 Arda Güler. Top talent.@10ardaguler || #HBD || #UEL pic.twitter.com/7wfK34lMnB
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) February 25, 2023
his clause is only 17.5 million
The 18-year-old Turkish midfielder is, from a technical point of view, one of the wildest talents in Europe. In recent months he has experienced tremendous growth. Until March he had only added 483′, but Jorge Jesus had no choice but to surrender to his talent: in the last three months he accumulated 1,066′, enough to overcome the 1,500 barrier and raise his termination clause to 17, 5 million euros. A ‘bargain’ for all the teams that have their eye on him: Arsenal, Newcastle, Manchester United, PSG, Milan…
Güler, the youngest player to score in Europe with Fenerbahçe, not only ‘make up’ his numbers, but ended up playing a crucial role. He closed the course with six goals and seven assists among all competitions , including the assist he gave in the Cup final, won over Istanbul Basaksehir (2-0).
🟡🔵 17-year-old Arda Güler with the world at his feet…@Fenerbahce || #UEL pic.twitter.com/7QSSfHA9p5
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) January 11, 2023
“I don’t feel pressure. At first I was scared, but when I go out onto the field, I forget about everything. I just enjoy. I love playing football. I’ve been playing since I was born”, he assures while acknowledging: “I do extra work in the gym and I practice a lot of set pieces (one of his specialties)”.
“I hadn’t seen a goal like this for a long time”
His ‘PhD’, however, has arrived with Türkiye. Arda closed the victory against Wales (2-0) with a huge goal . “He hadn’t seen a goal like this for a long time ,” acknowledged his compatriot Merih Demiral, defender of Atalanta.
🇹🇷 Take a bow, Arda Güler 🔥#EQGOTT | @AlipayPlus pic.twitter.com/qG24mHsUM6
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 19, 2023
The compliments don’t stop. “He is the future number ’10’ of Turkey. He is a very good player ,” says Hakan Çalhanoglu. “I don’t think Arda will be in Turkey for much longer ,” his former coach, Erol Tokgozler, told ‘CNN’.
“Arda Güler is one of the greatest talents in Turkish football. He is a very good player and has enormous potential to become one of the best in the world . He is mature and humble: he seems older than he is. He has many skills in his pocket. He loves football. He is the player preferred by Fenerbahçe fans and his coaches say he could play for any team in the world” , Cagri Davran, journalist for ‘Fanatik’, told MARCA.
