With Arda Güler, Real Madrid has once again secured one of the greatest talents in football. Because of his strong left foot, which he owes to his father, he is compared to superstars.
If Real Madrid’s concept works again, the “Royal” will have a successful future in the years to come. For years, the transfer policy there has been to attract the world’s most up-and-coming talent – at the moment when it is actually already foreseeable that they have what it takes to become big stars.
The people of Madrid can afford to wait a little longer and buy diamonds that already have a certain cut. You don’t have to strike when no one else has noticed a young player, but when everyone is after a talent. Because the club has the reputation and the money to make expensive youngsters decide to move to Real.
Madrid turns upcoming stars into superstars
That’s how it was before the 2018/19 season with Vinicius Junior, a year later with Rodrygo, two years later came Eduardo Camavinga, before last season Aurelien Tchouameni and a few weeks ago Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund. Real invested 103 million euros in the English midfielder, the transfer fees for the previous players are said to have been between 31 and 80 million euros. These investments have paid off every time – it remains to be seen at Bellingham.
The midfield and the offensive are peppered with players who can still play at the top level for over ten years and are already there. And now there is another highly talented young professional who just turned 18 in February and is therefore the youngest player in the Real squad: Arda Güler.
Real even pays more than it should
The “royal” have transferred 20 million euros to his previous club Fenerbahce Istanbul, another ten million euros could flow through bonus payments, and the top Turkish club has also secured a stake of over 20 percent if Güler is resold. It could have been cheaper for Madrid because the offensive man had an exit clause of 17.5 million euros. But Real really wanted to have him and did a little extra convincing with a few extra million.
If you believe what is said and written about Güler, this is again a promising deal for the “royal”. He is repeatedly compared to Lionel Messi or Mesut Özil, and there has been a real hype about the senior international in Turkey in particular. It became correspondingly pathetic when it became clear that Güler saw his future elsewhere. “Millions of Fenerbahce fans have embraced Arda. We know how much sympathy he enjoys in the cities we travel to. The fact that Arda is so popular is the pride of Turkish football,” said club president Ali Koc, when he made it public that Güler was aiming for a transfer despite new contract offers.
A decision for many others – and for yourself
The 18-year-old also sent emotional farewell words to Fenerbahce fans on Instagram. It was “difficult to say goodbye.” Güler “spent the best days of my life at the club. I will never forget the first time I wore my dream jersey, the pride I had in the number 10 jersey,” he wrote. “But I had to make this decision to make those who believed in me even prouder. To give hope to those who were about to give up and to prove that Turkish youth can achieve anything if they it will.”
FC Barcelona is at a disadvantage
But Güler certainly made the same decision because the biggest clubs in the world were interested in him and now the way for a great career has been paved. Joan Laporta, President of FC Barcelona, recently announced that his club was determined to sign the young Turk. And precisely because of the Messi comparison, such a change would have had a certain romance. Güler also impresses with his fine dribbling, low center of gravity and a brilliant left foot.
But that is also reminiscent of Emre Mor, who was also hyped with this ability as an exceptional Turkish talent. After his move to Borussia Dortmund in 2016, however, things went downhill steeply. The 25-year-old now plays for Fenerbahce, where he was overshadowed by Güler and mostly just sat on the bench.
Emre Mor during a Borussia Dortmund friendly in 2017.
Talent of the century with the body of a 14-year-old
Incidentally, Güler’s strong left foot is the result of his father’s will. “We didn’t have left-footers in our family. I put balloons and footballs in front of his left foot so he could use it more often,” Ümit Arda once explained in an interview with “GOAL”. And how successful this training was, became known at the latest when Güler scored an absolutely dream goal in his fourth international match with a fantastic flick from the corner of the penalty area into the far corner.
Even before that, the Turkish media said: “There is only one player like that in a century.” After that, the hymns of praise spread far beyond national borders. But it is precisely in such situations that his national coach, Stefan Kuntz, sees himself as a reminder. Of course, he praised Güler, but also pointed out that there are still weaknesses that he definitely needs to work on. “Arda’s left foot is definitely better than mine, no need to argue about that. But his body now is like my body when I was 14,” said Kuntz.
First appearance on the big Real stage
That also feeds the comparisons with Messi and Özil, who made up for their lack of strength with elegance and technology. The latter came out a long time ago as a Güler fan, he could become a “world star”, said Özil. The German world champion of 2014 played for Real Madrid from 2010 to 2013.
During his time with Real, Özil only won the Spanish championship once and the cup once – a modest result for the club. For Güler, there should be a much more successful time alongside several young stars – who, like him, decided to move to Madrid as a great talent. His time as a Real player begins there on Friday (July 6th, 2023) – Güler will be officially introduced at 12 noon.
2023-07-06 20:29:46
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