Arda Turan is a Turkish footballer, midfielder and coach.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on January 30, 1973 in Istanbul, Turkey.
At the age of 13, he entered the Galatasaray Children’s and Youth Academy, where he was trained from 2000 to 2005.
Club career
Galatasaray
Turan played as an attacking midfielder. He made his debut in the first team of Galatasaray on January 22, 2005 in the Turkish Cup match against Bursaspor.
In the 2005/06 season, the footballer was sent on loan to Manisaspor, where he scored 2 goals in 15 matches.
After returning to Galatasaray in the summer of 2006, Turan became one of the main players of the team, helping the club reach the group stage of the Champions League and win the national championship in the 2007/08 season.
In 2009, the footballer was appointed captain of Galatasaray and received the number 10, which previously belonged to club legends, for example, Gheorghe Hagi.
In total, during five seasons, from 2006 to 2011, the footballer took part in 197 matches and scored 45 goals.
Atletico Madrid
In August 2011, already having the status of a Turkish football star, he moved to Atletico Madrid. The Spanish club paid 12 million euros for the transfer, which made the footballer the most expensive Turkish player at that time.
Under the leadership of Diego Simeone, he gained a foothold in the main squad, playing mainly on the left flank of the attack.
In his first season in 2011/12, he helped the team win the Europa League, providing an assist in the final against Athletic Bilbao (3:0).
In 2012, together with Atletico, he won the UEFA Super Cup, in the match with Chelsea (4:1).
In the 2012/13 season, Turan helped the club win the Spanish Cup, and the next year, in the 2013/14 season, Atletico became the champion of La Liga. He also scored a goal in the semi-finals of the Champions League in the match against Chelsea, which ended with a score of 3:1.
In total, as part of the Madrid club, Arda played 178 matches, in which he scored 22 goals and made 32 assists.
FC Barcelona
In July 2015, the footballer signed a contract with Barcelona. The transfer amount was 34 million euros. Due to the transfer ban, he was able to make his debut for the new team only in January 2016 – in the Copa del Rey match against Espanyol, which ended with a score of 4:1.
In the Spanish championship, Turan made his debut for Barcelona in the match against Granada, scoring an assist on Lionel Messi.
In August 2016, he scored twice in the Spanish Super Cup match against Sevilla (3:0), and in December of the same year he scored a hat-trick in the Champions League match against Borussia Mönchengladbach (4:0).
“Istanbul Basaksehir”
In the 2017/18 season, the footballer did not play a single game, and in January 2018 he was sent on loan to Istanbul Basaksehir. There he took part in 42 matches and scored 2 goals.
Retirement as a football player
In 2020, the deal was terminated, after which he temporarily returned to Barcelona.
In the same year, the footballer returned to Galatasaray, signing a two-year contract and receiving the captain’s armband. In the 2020/21 season, he played 34 matches and scored 4 goals, but in the next championship he entered the field only 12 times and did not score goals.
In September 2022, Turan announced the end of his professional career.
Career in the national team
Turan first played for the Turkish national team on August 16, 2006 in a friendly match against Luxembourg, which ended in a 1-0 victory.
At the 2008 European Championship, the footballer scored the decisive goal in the match with Switzerland (2:1), and also scored the second goal in the meeting against the Czech Republic (3:2).
He also played an important role in the qualifying matches:
- in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, he scored 4 goals;
- in the selection for Euro 2016 – 3 more.
In total, as part of the Turkish national team, Turan played 100 matches and scored 17 goals.
In 2017, he announced his retirement from the national team, but later returned. The last match in the uniform of the national team was held in October 2017 during the game against Iceland, which ended in a 0:3 defeat.
Coaching career
Turan began his coaching career on April 14, 2023, leading Eyüpspor, which played in the Turkish First League. The debut match as head coach ended with a 0-1 defeat against Göztepe. However, under his leadership, the team eventually began to show positive results and climb in the standings.
In April 2024, Eyüpspor won access to the Super League for the first time in its history.
In the 2024/25 season, the team finished at the top of the Super League standings.
In May 2025, Turan signed a two-year deal with Shakhtar Donetsk.
