Football Season Guide

Galatasaray

In


Haris Seferovic (att) Benfica – on loan, Leo Dubois (def) Lyon, Mostafa Mohammed (att) Zamalek; Sergio Oliveira (mid) FC Porto; Abdulkerim Bardakci (def) Konyaspor; Kazimcan Karatas (def) Altay; Yunus Akgun (att) Adana Demir – end of loan; Christian Luyindama (def) Taawon – end of loan; Okan Kocuk (gk), Emre Tasdemir (def) Giresunspor – end of loan; Aytac Kara (mid) Goztepe – end of loan; Valentine Ozornwafor (def) RSC Charleroi – end of loan; Ogulcan Caglayan (att) Eyupspor – end of loan;

Out


Marcao (r)(def) Sevilla; Mostafa Mohammed (att) Nantes – on loan, Valentine Ozornwafor (def) RSC Charleroi; Bartug Elmaz (mid) Marsilya B; Ryan Babel (sp)(att) Eyupspor, Ali Yavuz Kol (att) Adana Demir; Erkan Suer (mid) Iskenderunspor; Alpaslan Ozturk (def) Eyupspor – on loan; Sofiane Feghouli (sp)(att), Semih Kaya (def), Arda Turan (att), Fatih Ozturk (gk) free agent; Erick Pulgar (mid) Fiorentina – end of loan; Mostafa Mohamed (r)(att) Zamalek – end of loan; Inaki Pena (sp)(gk) Barcelona – end of loan; Halil Dervisoglu (sp)(att) Brentford – end of loan;

The Lions have done well in Europa League last season but their league performance was horrible as they spent parts of the last season close to the relegation zone. First of all, they have parted the company with coach Torrent and decided to work with coach Okan Buruk who was part of the team when they won the 2000 UEFA Cup against Arsenal. Then they sold Marcao to Sevilla and loaned Mohamed out to Nantes. Bardakci and Seferovic were added to fill the roles of duo. Sergio Oliveira comes into midfield while defensive wingers Dubois and Kazimcan will give great options to the Turkish coach at backline. Akbaba and Akgun have done great jobs last season as loanees. The duo returned to the team and the coach is expected to use them during the season. The offence line looks adequate but there are some question marks in defence and midfield. Except Nelsson and Bardakci, there are no quality support players. Bayram did not look good in the summer trainings. Taylan was also not trustable last season. There are several options on the wings. Following the returns of Akbaba and Akgun, the coach has plenty of options. Considering the qualities of Gomis and Seferovic, they should not face any problem in offence this season. On the other hand, it should not be a surprise to see Muslera and Gomis miss some fixtures because of their conditions. Besides them, the efficiency of other foreign players like Morutan and Cicaldau could affect the team negatively.

Target


European Cups. Their current quality is not enough for competing in the title race but they are strong enough to finish at top 5. They may aim at winning the Turkish Cup.