. Teenager Kenan Yildiz – recently given the No 10 shirt at Juventus and a contract until 2029 – was the saviour for the Bianconeri at the weekend, scoring two late goals in the Derby d’Italia to earn a remarkable 4-4 draw at Inter. Hakan Calhanoglu was sidelined for that match but on Monday he became the first Turkish man to feature on the Ballon d’Or shortlist since 2003, finishing 20th above Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer, among others. Oh, and then there’s Real Madrid’s Arda Güler, the nation’s unequivocal poster boy, who was voted the second best young player in the world – behind only Lamine Yamal – in the Ballon d’Or’s Kopa Trophy award.
Bolstered by these talents playing overseas, Turkey look stronger than they have in decades, and were unfortunate not to beat Netherlands in their Euro 2024 quarter-final. Yet of the 10 outfield players that started against the Dutch, only four players were born in the country, or brought through a Turkish academy. The pathway for domestic-based Turkish talent remains filled with obstacles.
This is the central dichotomy at the heart of Turkish football: a domestic football fanbase that is fiercely proud of its own – which is partly why Ankara-born, Istanbul-raised Güler is the country’s poster boy ahead of Calhanoglu and Yildiz (both born in Germany) – yet a club system that is obsessed with short-termism and instant results. This is epitomised by the Big Three – Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas – who, in a constant attempt to best the other two, typically prefer to bring in foreign imports, sometimes past their best, rather than take a short-term hit to nurture their own.
Turkey is far from the only country that leans heavily on imports, and it is worth stating that the model can garner results. Mauro Icardi’s …
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