Arda Turan

Arda Turan is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. Turan states that while he enjoys being compared to current Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi, he thinks that Messi is the "greatest player in the world". Turan had been dating Turkish actress Sinem Kobal since August 2009. The pair became engaged in January 2010, however they split in late 2013. Turan who was in a long-term relationship with Aslihan Dogan married her on 11 March 2018. Turan is also known for his humanitarian work, especially in the helping of sick children. On 11 May 2014, Turan was announced as a goodwill ambassador for the Khojaly massacre. His ambassador activities are aimed to raise awareness about this issue and promoting world peace. Turan is mostly known for his ball control, dribbling skills and vision. At age 21, prior to the 2009-10 season, he was named captain of Galatasaray. Following a successful UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, Turan was ranked eighth in a selection of the 100 Best Young Football Players in the World piece published by Spanish magazine Don Balón in July 2008. Turan was ranked 38th in "The 100 Best Footballers in the World" by The Guardian in 2014, the only player on the list to be born in Turkey. On 25 November 2014, Turan was nominated for the UEFA Team of the Year for 2014, among 40 other players. As of September 2017, Turan holds 99 senior national caps and 17 goals for the Turkey national team, making him Turkey's fourth-most capped player of all-time. Turan is a product of the Galatasaray youth. He was promoted to the Galatasaray first-team by manager Gheorghe Hagi in 2004-05 season, and he made his official debut against Bursaspor in a Turkish Cup match on 22 January 2005. He then had a spell on loan to fellow Süper Lig side Manisaspor in the second half of the 2005-06 season. In the 2005-06 season, Turan scored two goals for the team based in Manisa. Turan was recalled to Galatasaray for the start of the 2006-07 season and quickly broke into the first team. It was during this time that he received his first senior international call up. He helped Galatasaray qualify for the following season's UEFA Champions League group stage. Turan continued his development in the 2007-08 season, scoring seven goals in the second half of the season. At the start of the 2009-10 season, Turan was handed the captaincy of Galatasaray and given squad number 10, which had previously belonged to Metin Oktay and Hagi; Turan previously wore number 66. As captain at the start of season, Turan guided his team to six consecutive league wins games which put Galatasaray comfortably at the top of the table. In the 2010-11 season, he was troubled with injuries and played a limited number of games. By the end of the season, he had played in only 12 league matches, scoring two goals; and in three Turkish Cup matches, where he scored one. His impressive performances over the last four years of his Galatasaray career lead to interest from Spanish club Atlético Madrid. In the late hours of 9 August 2011, it was announced Turan would be joining Atletico Madrid for a EUR12 million transfer fee plus bonuses, making him the most expensive Turkish footballer of all-time. He was handed the number 11 shirt and made his 2011-12 La Liga debut on 28 August 2011 against Osasuna, entering as a substitute in the second half. He made his UEFA Europa League debut on 15 September against Celtic, starting the match and assisting a goal. On 18 September, he was again selected for the starting XI and provided two assists. On 6 July 2015, Barcelona announced the signing of Turan from Atletico for EUR34 million, plus EUR7 million in variables. The contract will run for five seasons, but Turan would only be able to debut for the Catalans in January 2016, after Barcelona's transfer ban had been lifted. On 29 December 2015, Turan picked number 7 for his shirt. Stating the match in the starting line-up, Turan made his debut on 6 January 2016 in a Derbi barceloní encounter against Espanyol in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey, which ended 4-1 for Barcelona. He placed a shot in the second half that was saved by Espanyol goalkeeper Pau. Turan played his first Liga match with Barcelona on 9 January 2016, the 17th matchday of the season, at home against Granada. The match ended 4-0, with Turan assisting Lionel Messi's opening goal. On 17 August 2016, Turan scored twice and Lionel Messi once as Barcelona earned a 3-0 second-leg victory over Sevilla to win the 2016 Supercopa de Espana 5-0 on aggregate. On 7 December 2016, Turan scored his first hat-trick for Barcelona during a Champions League group stage match against Borussia Mönchengladbach. He became the sixth player in Barça history to score a hat-trick in the Champions League, after Messi, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Samuel Eto'o and Neymar. This also marked Turan's first hat-trick in European competitions.