Arda Turan (born 30 January 1987) is a Turkish professionalfootballmanager and former player who is currently the head coach of Ukrainian Premier League clubShakhtar Donetsk.
Following a successfulUEFA Euro 2008 campaign, Turan was ranked eighth in a selection of the100 Best Young Football Players in the World piece published by Spanish magazineDon Balón in July 2008.[4] Turan was ranked 38th in "The 100 Best Footballers in the World" byThe Guardian in 2014, the only player on the list to be born in Turkey.[5] On 25 November 2014, Turan was nominated for theUEFA Team of the Year for 2014, among 39 other players.[6][7]
Turan was recalled to Galatasaray for the start of the2006–07 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'sUEFA Champions League group stage. Turan continued his development in the2007–08 season, scoring seven goals in the second half of the season.
At the start of the2009–10 season, Turan was handed the captaincy of Galatasaray[8] and given squad number 10, which had previously belonged toMetin Oktay and Hagi; Turan previously wore number 66.[9]
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 the2010–11 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 clubAtlético Madrid.[10]
In the late hours of 9 August 2011, it was announced Turan would be joining Atlético Madrid for a €12 million transfer fee plus bonuses,[11] making him the most expensive Turkish footballer of all-time.[12][13]
He was handed the number 11 shirt and made his2011–12 La Liga debut on 28 August 2011 againstOsasuna, entering as a substitute in the second half. He made hisUEFA Europa League debut on 15 September againstCeltic, starting the match and assisting a goal. On 18 September, he was again selected for the starting XI and provided two assists.
On 25 October, Galatasaray club presidentÜnal Aysal stated Turan will come back to Galatasaray in the future underright of first refusal that was signed between Galatasaray and Atlético during an interview withLig TV.[14] On 30 November, Turan scored his first goal for Atlético in a Europa League match against Celtic with a powerful volley. On 11 December, he scored his firstLa Liga goal with a driven volley just outside the box. In the Europa League match that followed, he netted again in a 3–1 win againstRennes.
Turan's number was changed from 11 to 10 before the2012–13 season. He began his season with a game-tying long-distance screamer in Atlético's 1–1La Liga season opener againstLevante. He then won the2012 UEFA Super Cup with Atlético against Champions League victorsChelsea, assisting Falcao for the third goal of the game in a 4–1 victory.[16] On 16 September 2012, he scored the third goal of the game againstRayo Vallecano in a 4–3 home win.
Turan (in sunglasses) on Atlético's victory parade after winning La Liga in 2014
He was instrumental in Atlético's wins in their first two2013–14 Champions League matches againstZenit Saint Petersburg andPorto, scoring a goal in each match.[17] On 30 April 2014, he scored the last goal of a 3–1 away win against Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Champions League, sending Atlético to the final for the first time since 1974.[18]
On 13 September 2014, entering the match as a substitute one hour into the match, Turan scored the decisive goal in the 76th minute for Atlético in their 1–2 away league win against derby rivalsReal Madrid. After the match, Atlético managerDiego Simeone hailed Turan's impact on Atlético's game.[19] On 1 October 2014, Turan scored the only goal of the match in the 1–0 win againstJuventus in the group stage of the2014–15 Champions League season. On 28 January 2015, in the 47th minute of the home leg of theCopa del Rey quarter-final againstBarcelona, Turan threw his boot in the direction of the assistant referee, when he was denied a free-kick for an alleged foul byIvan Rakitić.[20] After the match, however, he was not handed a ban for the incident.[21] Atlético were eliminated from the tournament as the match ended with a 2–3 defeat, 2–4 defeat on aggregate. On 22 April, Turan was sent off for a foul onSergio Ramos as Atlético lost 0–1 at Real Madrid to be eliminated from the quarter-finals of the Champions League.[22]
On 6 July 2015, Barcelona announced the signing of Turan from Atlético for €34 million, plus €7 million in variables. The contract would 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.[23] On 29 December 2015, Turan picked number 7 for his shirt.[24][25] Starting the match in the starting line-up, Turan made his debut on 6 January 2016 in aDerbi barceloní encounter against Espanyol in the first leg of the round of 16 of theCopa del Rey, which ended 4–1 for Barcelona.[26] He placed a shot in the second half that was saved by Espanyol goalkeeperPau.[26] Turan played his first Liga match with Barcelona on 9 January 2016, the 17th matchday of the season, at home againstGranada. The match ended 4–0, with Turan assistingLionel Messi's opening goal.[27][28] On 17 August 2016, Turan scored twice and Lionel Messi once as Barcelona earned a 3–0 second-leg victory overSevilla to win the2016 Supercopa de España 5–0 on aggregate.[29]
On 7 December 2016, Turan scored his first hat-trick for Barcelona during a Champions League group stage match againstBorussia Mönchengladbach. He became the sixth player inBarça history to score a hat-trick in the Champions League, after Messi,Ronaldinho,Rivaldo,Samuel Eto'o andNeymar.[30] This also marked Turan's first hat-trick in European competitions.
After not playing a single game for Barcelona in the2017–18 season, Arda was loaned out to Turkish clubİstanbul Başakşehir for the remainder of the season and two more, in the winter transfer window.[31] He made his debut for the club in aleague match on 21 January 2018, coming off the bench in the 65th minute mark and scoring the third goal in the 3–0 away win overBursaspor.[32] On 4 May 2018, Turan was sent off in a league match againstSivasspor for pushing anassistant referee after disagreeing with a ruling.[33] He received a 16-match ban from theTurkish Federation's disciplinary board, the longest punishment ever issued to a player in the country.[34] Later, however, the ban was reduced to 10 games by TFF's arbitration board.[35] On 7 January 2020, Turan's loan was terminated six months early by Başakşehir.[36]
On 5 August 2020, Galatasaray announced the signing of Turan on a two-year deal.[37] Due to a long-term injury to goalkeeperFernando Muslera, he was made the club's captain.[38] He played his first official match of the2020–21 season againstGaziantep in the Super League on 12 September. The next season, he played only seven matches and scored no goals.
On 12 September 2022, Turan has shared via his social media account that he "hung up" his football boots.[39] His retirement announcement also came along with a formal retirement video, put together by the Libre Channel.[40]
Turan was a Turkish international regular, having made over 90 appearances forTurkey at senior level. He made his debut in the 1–0 friendly victory overLuxembourg on 16 August 2006, having worked his way through the youth national team at the under-19 and under-21 levels. He scored his first international goal on 25 May 2008 in a friendly againstUruguay.
Turan featured in nine of Turkey's 12 qualification matches forEuro 2008, and starred in the finals of the tournament itself. Turan scored two goals during Turkey's progression to the semi-finals. The first was a last-minute winner against co-hostsSwitzerland in their second group stage match to eliminate them from the competition.[41] His second came in the final group stage match against theCzech Republic, in which a draw would see a penalty shootout being played to determine who would go through to the quarter-finals because both teams had identical records. He scored Turkey's first goal in the second half, beating goalkeeperPetr Čech with a low shot, which led to Turkey coming from 2–0 down to win the match.[42] He also successfully converted a spot-kick in the penalty shootout againstCroatia in the quarter-finals,[43] taking Turkey to the semi-finals, where they were eventually knocked out by losing finalistsGermany.
Turan scored the Turkish national team's 600th international goal in a2010 World Cup qualification game, againstEstonia on 5 September 2009.[45] he scored four goals for Turkey during the qualification rounds of theEuro 2012, two againstKazakhstan, one againstBelgium, and one againstAustria. Turkey, however, could not qualify for the final stages of Euro 2012 after being eliminated by Croatia in the play-offs.
In June 2017, Turan attacked verbally and tried to strangulate journalist Bilal Meşe in a plane trip back from a game againstMacedonia. He then stated that he didn't feel any remorse and that he would not be playing for Turkey anymore.[46][47] However, after the sacking of head coachFatih Terim and the new coachMircea Lucescu expressing his wish for Turan to return, he declared in August that he would resume playing for Turkey.[48]
On 14 April 2023, Turan was appointed asmanager ofTFF First League clubEyüpspor on a one-and-a-half-year contract.[50][51] His first game in charge, on 16 April, resulted in a 1–0 away loss againstGöztepe, completing the game without any shots on target.[52] On 7 April 2024, he guided his club to secure promotion toSüper Lig for the first time in their history, after defeatingAltay 4–1.[53] On the final matchday of the2023–24 season, the club clinched the division title with a commanding 4–0 away win againstErzurumspor.[54]
On 25 May 2025, Turan announced his departure from Eyüpspor following the expiration of his contract, after leading the club to a sixth-place finish in their debut season in the top division.[55]
On 16 November 2008, Turan collapsed during a match againstİstanbul BB. After being rushed to hospital, he was diagnosed withcardiac arrhythmia.[57] The day after the incident, doctors declared that Turan was in good health and that extreme exhaustion caused the arrhythmia. In November 2009, he suffered a minor bout ofswine flu but recovered within a few days to resume training.[58] In January 2009, he was involved in a car crash inIstanbul.[59][60] Turan suffered no serious injuries and continued training with only cuts and bruises.[61] Turan dated Turkish actressSinem Kobal from August 2009.[62] The pair became engaged in January 2010, splitting in late 2013.[63][64] Turan married Aslıhan Doğan on 11 March 2018.President of TurkeyRecep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the wedding where he was acting as a witness of the marriage.[65][66][67] In October 2018, the couple's first child, a son named Hamza Arda, was born.[68] Another son named Asil Aslan was born in June 2020.[69] Arda Turan received a suspended sentence of 2 years and 8 months after being found guilty of firing a gun to cause panic, illegal possession of weapons and intentional injury. Turan got into a brawl withBerkay Şahin in 2018 which ended with a broken nose for the pop star. Turan appeared at the hospital with a gun, allegedly begging for forgiveness from Şahin, panic ensued after the footballer fired the weapon at the ground. Turan will not serve his jail term if no further incidents occur for five years.[70]
In January 2010, Turan was voted as the third-most popular European footballer of 2009, as well as the 14th-most popular footballer in the world, by theInternational Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).[77][78] He was featured on the cover of the video gameFIFA 15 in Turkey. Together with his future teammate Lionel Messi.[79]
Turan is ofAlbanian descent through his mother.[81]
Turan has commentated on UEFA Europa League matches throughout his football commentary career. He shared his views on the matchup between Shakhtar Donetsk and Beşiktaş in 2025.[82]
^"Arda Turan'ın forma numarası belli oldu" [Arda Turan's jersey number has been determined/revealed.] (in Turkish). Fanatik. 29 December 2015.Archived from the original on 31 December 2015. Retrieved29 December 2015.
^"Yuvana hoş geldin Arda Turan" [Welcome home Arda Turan].galatasaray.org (in Turkish). 5 August 2020.Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved5 August 2020.
^"Kaptanlık pazubandı Arda Turan'a verildi" [The captain's armband was given to Arda Turan.].www.ensonhaber.com (in Turkish). 8 August 2020.Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved8 August 2020.
^"Turan Retirement".Instagram. Arda Turan.Archived from the original on 12 September 2022. Retrieved12 September 2022.
^"Arda Turan'ın Vedası".YouTube (in Turkish). LibreChannel. 12 September 2022.Archived from the original on 24 November 2022. Retrieved12 September 2022.
^Sanghera, Mandeep (11 June 2008)."Switzerland 1–2 Turkey". BBC Sport.Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved23 April 2015.
^"Arda diagnosed Swine Flu" [Arda diagnosed Swine Flu.] (in Turkish). Fanatik.com.tr.Archived from the original on 9 January 2010. Retrieved28 December 2009.
^"Kaptan Arda Turan".odatv.com (in Turkish). Retrieved27 September 2024.Anne ailesinin geçmişi de farklı değil; Arnavut göçmeni aile, Bursa'ya yerleşti, ardından İstanbul Kocamustafapaşa'ya geldi
^"Arda Turan". European Football.Archived from the original on 30 March 2015. Retrieved5 May 2018.
^"Süper Lig 2007–08". Turkish Football Federation. 10 May 2008.Archived from the original on 4 December 2015. Retrieved30 December 2015.
^"Real Madrid – At. Madrid" (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. 17 May 2013. Archived fromthe original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved29 January 2015.
^"Ось кого ми вибрали із Класичного – й ось чому герой туру не з цього матчу: вся збірна 11-го туру Прем'єр-Ліги". 4 November 2025.{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|url= (help)
^"Експерти визначили найкращого тренера, гравця та символічну збірну 11-го туру". 5 November 2025.{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|url= (help)
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