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From Turkish Wonderkid to Real Madrid Galactico: The Rise of Arda Guler

The Rise of Arda Guler

When his team gave away the penalty that would send them into the relegation zone with only seven minutes left on the clock, the kid yelled at the keeper to jump to his right. And he saved it! But the crazy thing is that, apparently, this happened a lot. Around the club, everyone called him “Two and a Half” because they said that it took two players to score a goal, but with a ball boy like him, he deserved at least half as much praise as them.

And I know you’re wondering, “Who even is this kid?” But I guess it depends on who you ask. Most will probably tell you that he’s “the Turkish Messi,” that he’s the greatest Turkish player of all time, a future Ballon d’Or winner. But his real name is Arda Güler.

What makes him so special is that despite the fact he’s already receiving all of this praise, despite the fact he’s been one of the best players at this summer’s Euros, he is still only 19 years old. Think about it. When he was born, Ronaldo was already on the Ballon d’Or list. For a Turkish kid to reach these heights so quickly is simply unprecedented. So much so that when a scout finally found him, no one even believed him.

How A Scout Risked His Career To Prove “The Turkish Messi” Was The Real Deal

You see, Arda Güler’s talent isn’t as natural as you may think. His dad built him to be the player he is today. It’s not even that he’s wearing Fenerbahçe gear in nearly all of his childhood photos or that his dad had already put him in an academy by the time he was four. It’s the fact that the kid wasn’t even left-footed. As his own father admitted: “We never had any left-footed people in the family, but ever since he was a baby, whenever I’d put balloons or footballs in front of him, I’d only let him use his left.”

By the time the kid moved to Gençlerbirliği’s academy at nine years of age, he already had his entire career planned. He kept telling everyone that “From here, I’ll move to Fenerbahçe, then to Europe once I’m 18,” and everyone believed him. His coaches struggled to understand how it was even possible that he was so good. One of them would even tell the press: “It was as if the ball was one of his organs, part of his body.”

At 13 years of age, he was already so mesmerizing that club president Murat Cavcav had repeatedly told the board that “the boy was not to be sold for less than a million.” But then Mr. Cavcav passed away, and his best-kept secret was exposed.

Only a year later, a Fenerbahçe scout named Serhat Pekmezci was sitting in the stands hoping to watch some other kid when, in his own words: “Once there, all I could see was Arda Güler. By the end of the match, I followed him to his father’s car. They took me into their home. His whole room was Fenerbahçe, posters all over the walls. He told me his dream was to become the next Alex.”

But I guess it all seemed a bit too perfect because, when Serhat told the club about this kid he claimed “could be a starter for Fenerbahçe by the time he turned 15,” the president himself pretty much kicked him out the door, thinking that he was making up stories. In his own words: “No one took me seriously. I felt like Don Quixote, like I was imagining things. But I didn’t give up. At the risk of losing my job, I prepared a DVD with all of Arda Güler’s best plays and begged the president’s driver to show it to him.”

Only a few days later, the president was already calling him, asking how much he should pay for the kid. When Serhat told him: “I would pay half a million lira without thinking twice,” the president replied, “What are you saying? They only asked for 250.” And though, by the end, they had even managed to negotiate it all down to 150, about the same as a mere 23 thousand euros, they ended up conceding to a 20% sell-on fee, which they’d soon realize was a big mistake.

Arda Guler in Fenerbahçe
H/T: Fenerbahce SK

How Arda Guler Forced Mesut Ozil Into Retirement

Once at the club, though the pandemic stopped him from ever getting the chance to debut at 15 and make Serhat’s prophecy a reality, he pretty much joined the under-19s straight away.

Only a few months later, manager Vitor Pereira had already bumped him up to first team training, telling the press, “I worked in FC Porto’s academy for years and I can say I did not see many players get close to Arda Güler’s level.” But the thing is, he was still nowhere near his full potential.

At that point, despite the four-year difference between him and his teammates, Arda Güler was on seven goals and four assists in 19 matches. But as impressive as that was, the moment they went into the playoffs, he pulled off six goal contributions in just three matches. Only two games into the next season, he was finally getting his debut. The game after that, he was coming in with three minutes left and getting his first assist, and by his third, he was being subbed in for Mesut Özil himself.

At 16, he was quite literally replacing one of his biggest idols at the club of his dreams. Soon, much thanks to Güler, there would be no Özil to be replaced. Over the next two months, Güler proved those playoff matches had been no fluke.

Not just getting nine goal contributions in just six matches back with the under-19s, but being called up for the Turkish under-17s and getting another three contributions in three matches. Even though an injury stopped him for about a month right at that very moment, once he made it back, Vitor Pereira had gotten the sack.

With new manager Ismail Kartal looking to shake things up, he called Güler up to play in the Conference League. The kid immediately went in with two assists against Slavia Prague, one at home and a ridiculous one while playing away. Somehow, he managed to sneak his first ever league start right in between those two games and still took the man of the match award with an overwhelming 87% of the votes.

At that point, the entire country was behind Güler. Every match, the Fenerbahçe fans chanted his name, hoping the manager would bring him in. With 10 matches left in the league season, Kartal found himself 20 points off the top of the table, stuck at a two-goal draw against Alanyaspor.

Knowing that Güler had just carried Turkey’s under-17s to the Euros with two more goals in the final qualification matches, he caved into the fans’ demands. For one final time, Özil was subbed out for Güler. Not only had he already put them in front only three minutes later, making himself the youngest ever player to score for Fenerbahçe, but he then proceeded to get two assists as well, turning what seemed like a match to forget into a 5-2 humiliation.

From there on out, there was no way to deny this 16-year-old deserved more game time. The decision was made to bring him in for every match that was left in the season. Despite the fact Fenerbahçe ended up drawing two out of the last three league matches, the moment Güler went out with a hip injury, while he was still available, he led them on a seven-match winning streak.

Not just getting two more goals and an assist but changing every match the moment he came on, even though he barely ever got more than 20 minutes on the pitch, still managing to bring Fenerbahçe all the way up to second place, within eight points of the title.

Once all was said and done, Güler had averaged a goal every 44 minutes throughout the entire season. As much as it was too soon to take conclusions, it was a fact that not even prime Messi had managed to pull numbers that absurd. So, with that silky left-footed dribbling, the Turkish fans could not resist the comparison, and before you knew it, Arda Güler had become “the Turkish Messi.”

His market value had increased tenfold, and there were offers from Arsenal and Munich. But if there were any worries the hype could get to him, well, as the scout who found him would say: “He is a 16-year-old kid with the mentality of a 30-year-old veteran. His family raised him to be as mentally tough as they get. They will never allow anything to spoil Arda Güler’s future.”

So, when, in his third season, legendary Jorge Jesus, who’s notorious for refusing to work with younger players, took over the team and proceeded to kick Özil out of the club, instead choosing to extend Arda Güler’s contract for a further three years before handing him the number 10 instead, suddenly, it wasn’t just that a 17-year-old had made Özil seem “disposable.”

It was more about the fact that, with that number on his back, he was responsible for carrying on the legacy left by the likes of Robin Van Persie, Jay Jay Okocha, Tanju Colak, Diego Ribas, and above all, his idol, Alex De Souza.

Becoming The Best Player In The Country At 16 Years Of Age

So, with Jesus still insisting on keeping him on the bench despite all that had happened, right on his first league match of the season, Güler came in late and added two more goals to his tally.

By November, with Fenerbahçe needing a win against Dinamo Kyiv to secure the top spot in their Europa League group, Jesus gave him what was still only the fifth start of his career. He pulled off yet another man of the match performance, scoring the opener by lobbing the entire defense and then putting in the corner that settled the result at a 2-0 win.

This led the Italian newspaper Gazzetta Dello Sport to write that “A talent such as him only comes around once in 100 years.”

He then got his first ever call-up to the Turkish national team, forcing Fenerbahçe to go back to Gençlerbirliği, trying to buy them out of the 20% sell-on fee they had given them. This eventually fell into a pit of endless negotiations that only ended with Fenerbahçe paying them 2.5 million euros as well as allowing them to take out eight of their players on loan. From this point forward, game time was never as much of an issue.

Right after New Year’s, Güler got two starts in a row and dominated both matches, not just getting an assist in the first but going even further against Kasımpaşa, creating five chances in total, then hitting the post with a 25-yard lob, with Valencia scoring on the rebound. When, five matches later, it was time to play Beşiktaş, Güler was afforded his first ever start in a derby.

Not only did he win the penalty that put Fenerbahçe in front 1-0, but he kept on putting his teammates in one-on-one situations with the keeper, eventually leading to yet another penalty. Despite the defeat, Arda Güler was still named by many as the man of the match, telling the press, “I don’t feel any pressure on me. I play with pleasure every single time.”

Indeed, you could tell. By the time the league season was over, despite having lost out on the title and only played a tad over 900 minutes, Güler had created 40 goal-scoring chances, one every 23 minutes, quite literally the league’s all-time record. If you checked the rate at which he was racking up expected assists, only seven players in Europe could outdo him, and among them were Messi, Neymar, and De Bruyne.

But the thing is, so far I’ve been keeping a secret from you: in the Turkish Cup, Güler played even better. He assisted the decisive goal in the last 16, scored in the quarters, and even started the play that led to the semifinal’s opening goal with a backheel touch. Still, none of that compared to his performance in the final, which many consider the best of his career and the one that led Real to come for his signing.

Going up against Başakşehir, everyone thought it would be a tough game, but instead, only one minute in, Güler had already assisted the opening goal, and he did not slow down. He was virtually unplayable all match. Not only did he barely ever lose possession, but he also completed 91% of his passes and did not miss a single long ball.

Most impressively, in that final, he created eight goal-scoring chances. Not one, not two, not three or four, but eight in a single match. There have not been many players able to reach those numbers, let alone in a final at 18 years of age. It wasn’t even up for discussion who was the man of the match.

In fact, a week later, after he became the youngest player to ever score for Turkey in an official match with a strike so ridiculous, the British commentators said that “a goal like that should automatically win any match.” Tuttosport named him in the initial list for the Golden Boy award. The kid had been playing so absurdly well that when they asked Özil himself if there was a number 10 better than him, despite having every reason to feel some kind of resentment towards the kid, he said: “I can think of a name. I have a brother that I believe in; may God protect him from the evil eye. His name is Arda Güler.”

But unfortunately, it seemed the evil eye was already coming for him.

How Real Madrid Stole Arda Guler From Barcelona

With his father having negotiated a surprisingly low 17.5 million euro release clause into his contract, the transfer rumors had been going wild for months. Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern, Dortmund, PSG, Benfica, and Newcastle—it looked like every club in Europe was willing to go into a free-for-all for his signing.

As much as everyone in Turkey seemed to be uniting forces with the goal of keeping him in the club, no one could change his mind. As the negotiations moved on, it seemed almost certain that he would join Barcelona.

You see, with Barça having just come to terms with the reality that Messi’s comeback was never going to come true, they felt like signing “the Turkish Messi” would be the easiest way to appease the fans. So, they went after him with all they had.

But just as Real once bid above the release clause for Vini just to stop Barcelona from getting the kid they called “the next Neymar,” they pulled the same stunt once again. Real Madrid made Fenerbahçe an offer that could go up to 30 million with bonuses and even added a 20% sell-on fee.

To put it lightly, that was just completely mad. No other club was ever matching that.

Arda Guler as a Real Madrid player
H/T: Coaches Voice

The Injury That Almost Killed Guler’s Career

Only a day after announcing the signing, Arda Güler was already being unveiled at the Bernabeu. His mom teared up among the audience. Despite worries that he wouldn’t even get a chance to play—since, after all, in the previous season, aside from Camavinga, not a single under-21 player had been allowed to start a match in La Liga—Güler made sure to tell everyone in his first speech: “I refuse to go on loan. This is the most special day of my life. It’s an honor to be here, and all I want is to become a legend at this club, to show the world what a Turkish young man can do.”

As much as the hype hit unprecedented levels, with the tweet welcoming him to Real Madrid becoming the most liked in the history of the club, racking up almost a million likes, less than 20 days later, as he prepared to play his first match, one misstep in training was enough to damage his meniscus tendon. Suddenly, he was out. Had it been a bit worse, it could have been over for Güler. He might have never been the same player again.

But still, it wasn’t easy. After the surgery, his young, still inexperienced body simply wasn’t prepared for how grueling recovery would be. Another injury arrived every time he thought he was going to be allowed back in training. Once he finally was, he kept raising expectations, repeatedly teasing thousands of Madrid fans, shocking everyone who attended their sessions with little glimpses of otherworldly skills.

Even Toni Kroos could not believe it, telling the press, “I’m always careful when it comes to talking about young players, but Arda Güler is one of those that leaves you asking, ‘How did he even do that?’”

Precisely six months after the day of his signing, it finally happened. Güler was called up for a Copa Del Rey match and instantly took everyone’s breath away. As one newspaper put it, “If his beautifully hit free-kick didn’t strike the post, we’d have been looking at an all-timer debut. It even earned the Ancelotti nod of approval.” Over the next three months, although he never got more than 13 minutes a match, glimpses of his genius kept surfacing. At one point, he came in with one minute left in the match against Celta de Vigo and instantly dribbled past the keeper to get his first Real Madrid goal.

Regardless, after spending nearly 300 days watching from the sidelines as his teammates slowly climbed their way to the Champions League final, with five matches left in the league season and the title pretty much secure, Ancelotti finally gave him a place in the starting eleven. He just took over.

How Guler Shocked The World With His Skills

In the first of those five matches, he scored to secure a 1-0 win against Sociedad. After a quieter yet still brilliant performance against Cadiz, he came back with four goals in three matches, totaling six in 440 minutes. He closed out the season by being nominated for the Golden Boy award and becoming the first-ever Turkish player to take a Champions League winners’ medal, despite not having come off the bench. This led him to tell the press, “I can promise you, next year, I’m going to play a key role in these moments.” Judging by the way he’s been playing at the Euros, starting with a screamer in the first match, not just taking the Player of the Match award but becoming the youngest player to score a goal on his Euro debut since none other than Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo, I wouldn’t doubt him for a second.

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