Arda Turan Biography

Arda Turan, born 30 January 1987 in Istanbul, is a Turkish international footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Galatasaray. He is recognised for his technical ability, although he is often accused of having a temperamental nature. He made a name for himself at Galatasaray where his playmaking ability made him indispensable.

Turan went to Spain and played for Atletico Madrid, where he emerged as a talented midfielder in one of the best leagues in the world. He moved to Barcelona in 2015. He moved back to Turkey in January 2018 on a two-and-a-half-year loan deal with Istanbul Basaksehir. Following the end of his loan, Barca decided not to extend his contract and he returned to Galatasaray in August 2020.

He soon developed into a key member of the Turkish national team, where he provided a number of assists. As captain of a poor Euro 2016, in which Turkey was knocked out in the group stages, Turan was criticised by many. After his international retirement in June 2017, he decided to come out of retirement and return to the Turkish national team.

All You Need to know About Arda Turan Biography

In total, he played 100 matches for Turkey national team between 2006 and 2017, scoring 17 goals. He is one of the most decorated Turkish footballers ever, having won many titles and awards mainly with Atletico Madrid and

.

Arda Turan Information

Now that you know the Turkish winger better, in this section of

Arda Turan biography

, we will share the same general information about him such as

Arda Turan nationality

to let you know him even more. Stay tuned.

Arda Turan Bio

• Full Name: Arda Turan

• Nickname: N/A

• Profession: Professional Footballer

Arda Turan Physical Stats

• Weight: 76 Kg

• Height: 1.77 m

• Eye Color: Brown

• Hair Color: Dark Brown

Arda Turan Football Information

• Position: Winger

• Jersey Number: 10

• Professional Debut: 2004

Arda Turan Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 30 January 1987

• Birth Place: Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey

• Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

• Nationality: Turkish

Stay tuned to this section of

Arda Turan biography

as we will share some information about

Arda Turan childhood

and more.

Arda Turan Early Life

He was born on 30 January 1987 in the district of Bayrampaşa in Istanbul. He went to Şehremini Anadolu High School located in the Fatih district for his secondary education. From a very young age he played football, but it was when he was ten years old that he acquired his first football membership in the local club Altıntepsi Makelspor. From 2000, he joined the Galatasaray youth academy.

Arda Turan Profile

After having been trained in the youth ranks of Galatasaray, he played for

on loan in the second half of the 2005/06 season.

Galatasaray

Turan went back to

for the 2006/07 season. He scored two goals against Mladá Boleslav and provided three assists in the Champions League qualifiers. He was praised by football experts across Europe after the first leg and went on to become a regular in the Turkish league with his goals and assists for the club and also in the Turkish national team, in which he made his debut on 16 August 2006.

He was voted the best young player in the Turkish league in the 2006/07 season. Turan played a key role in the 2007/08 season, helping the club win the league title with seven goals and 14 assists. He scored a hat-trick in a 5-3 win over championship rivals

on matchday 33 to lead the way to the championship.

Subsequently, his contract was renewed for another year ahead of schedule. For the 2009/2010 season, he was appointed captain of the team and wore shirt number 10 since then. His team was disappointing in the 2010/11 season and achieved only eighth place. Due to an adductor injury, Turan was out of action for more than half of the season.

With the media and sections of the fan base blaming him for " lack of desire", transfer speculation grew at the end of the season but was not confirmed. Previously, Turan himself had been quite open about transfer intentions but had neither confirmed nor denied anything.

Stay tuned to this section of

Arda Turan biography

as we will share some information about his career with the Spanish club

.

Atlético Madrid

Turan joined Atlético Madrid for the 2011/12 season for a transfer fee of €12 million and a potential additional fee of €1 million. In case of a return to Turkey, Galatasaray Istanbul had a priority transfer right.

Turan debuted for Atlético Madrid in a home match against CA Osasuna on the second matchday of the Primera División. His first goal for Atlético Madrid came on 30 November 2011 against Celtic Glasgow which was in the UEFA Europa League. Turan scored two goals in two minutes in a 3-1 win over

on 22 April 2012.

He won the 2012 Europa League with Atlético, providing an assist in the final against Athletic Bilbao, which ended 3-0. Turan won the 2012 UEFA Super Cup with Atlético at the end of August 2012, when Atlético defeated Chelsea FC 4-1 in the final, with Turan providing the assist to Falcao for the 3-0 lead.

He prematurely extended his contract with the Rojiblancos until 2017 in September 2013 and that included a clause for a transfer fee of €41 million.

It was on 30 April 2014 in 2013/14 UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg that Turan went on to score in a 3-1 away win over Chelsea FC, which sealed Atlético Madrid's return to the final of a European Cup since 1974, an event which they lost to city rivals

in May 2014.

Stay tuned to this section of Arda Turan biography as we will share some information about his career with the Catalans.

FC Barcelona

At the beginning of the 2015/16 season, Turan transferred to FC Barcelona. Turan signed a five-year contract until 30 June 2020 on 7 July 2015 for a transfer fee of €34 million, with the possibility of an increase of €7 million depending on his performance.

FC Barcelona had an option to sell Turan back to Atlético Madrid for 90% of the transfer fee by 20 July. The intention was to protect the best interests of possible new club management, who would be elected on 18 July 2015.

Several days before the elections, the four presidential candidates already reached an agreement to keep Turan, and the option remained unused. Because of an imposed transfer ban in the 2015 summer transfer window, Turan - like his teammate Aleix Vidal - was not eligible to register and play until the start of the winter transfer window on 4 January 2016.

Therefore, he was not included in the squad that won the Club World Cup in Japan in December 2015. Ultimately, Turan debuted in an FC Barcelona shirt on 6 January 2016 in a 4-1 home win over Espanyol in the Copa del Rey round of 16 first leg. He made his league debut three days later in a 4-0 home win over Granada FC.

Return to Turkey

Having failed to make any appearances in the 2017/18 season, Turan eventually returned home on 13 January 2018 and joined

on loan until the end of his contract with FC Barcelona on 30 June 2020. The move enabled FC Barcelona to keep the option of selling Turan's transfer rights to another club while he was on loan.

Turan was sent off on matchday 32 for attacking an assistant referee and making threatening gestures towards the main referee and was suspended for 16 matches, plus fined the equivalent of €7600. Turan made 11 league appearances (7 from the start) until the end of the 2017/18 Süper Lig season, scoring 2 goals.

Turan made his first appearance of the season in the 2018/19 season following the end of his suspension on matchday 10. He went on to make 14 appearances (8 times as a starter) with no goals of his own.

This was followed by 9 more appearances in the first half of the 2019/20 season (2 times from the start) with no goals scored as well. In early January 2020, Başakşehir cancelled the loan. Nevertheless, Turan did not return to Barcelona, preferring to keep fit privately. On 30 June 2020, his contract expired formally.

Return to Galatasaray

For the 2020/21 season, Turan rejoined Galatasaray Istanbul and signed a one-year contract. Turan played his 200th Süper Lig match against Çaykur Rizespor on 19 March 2021. In the build-up to the 2021/22 season, his contract was renewed until the end of the season.

Stay tuned to this section of Arda Turan biography as we will share some information about his career with the Turkish national team.

Turkey National Team

He debuted for the Turkish national football team in a friendly match against Luxembourg on 16 August 2006. He caused a stir in the 2008 European Football Championship after scoring a last-minute goal against Switzerland in the group stage match and a late equaliser against the Czech Republic. He was absent from the semi-final against Germany because of a yellow card.

In total, he scored three goals, one of which was a penalty. Turan scored the 3:2 for

in the

qualifier on 5 September 2009 against Estonia; it was the 600th goal scored by the Turkish national football team. Since then Turan became a permanent regular in the national team.

Since the Euro qualifier against Luxembourg, on 31 March 2015, Turan was the captain of the Turkish national team.

At the 2016 European Football Championship in France, he was named to the Turkish squad. He was a member of the starting line-up in all three matches of the group stage. However, the team was eliminated in the group stage after one win and two defeats.

Following a verbal and physical attack on a journalist and a consequent suspension, Arda Turan announced his retirement from the Turkish national team on 6 June 2017. Mircea Lucescu was appointed as the new head coach of the Turkish national team in the summer of 2017.

Following a personal interview, Turan rejoined the national team.

called him up for the World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Croatia. He played his 100th and last international match on 6 October 2017 in the second to last match of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. As a result of the 3-0 home defeat against Iceland, the Turkish team no longer had a chance of qualifying for the World Cup.

Stay tuned to this section of Arda Turan biography as we will share some information about his playing style.

Style of Play

He has the agility to exploit gaps in the defence. With good technique, vision, precision on the break, and shooting ability, he also has a passing ability that allows him to offer a large number of decisive balls to his teammates.

Reception

Many football fans and also critics consider Arda Turan to be one of the greatest players in the history of Turkish football and a true legend among Turkish football fans. Being one of the most famous footballers in Turkey, he was on the cover of the FIFA 15 game developed by Electronic Arts alongside

.

Arda Turan outside Football

He has been very active in signing many sponsorship deals with many companies during his career. For example, in 2012 he was in a commercial video alongside famous singer Paris Hilton, which was recorded for Turkish clothing company DeFacto.

A year later, he played a guest role in the Turkish comedy movie “The Government Woman 2”. There have been many many documentary movies about Arda Turan’s life.

Arda Turan Personal Life

In this section of Arda Turan biography, we will take a look into his personal life, sharing some information about things like

Arda Turan religion

and

Arda Turan life story

.

Family, Children and Relationships

In 2012, after many months of dating Sinem Kobal, the famous Turkish actress, the two got engaged. However, there were problems between them later on and they even broke up, but got back together again and were about to marry each other in the summer of 2013.

A series of postponements of the wedding date resulted in the ending of the relationship in late 2013. He later started dating another Turkish girl named Aslıhan Doğan and after some time they were living together. The couple married each other in March 2018 and have two children together, Hamza Arda and Asil Aslan, born in October 2018 and June 2020, respectively.

Philanthropy

Turan is famous for visiting and donating to charity foundations and children in need on numerous occasions in his personal life. In 2009, he participated in numerous activities arranged for the welfare of disabled children. He donated and offered financial support to the Palestinian people in Gaza at an event conducted in 2009, along with certain Super Lig football players.

Legal Issues

In 2018, Istanbul public prosecutor’s office ordered an investigation into Arda Turan for suspected links to the organisation of Islamist cleric Fethullah Gülen, who Turkey blames for the failed coup in July 2016. The prosecutor's office suspected that Turan and other athletes may have links with or offered assistance to the organisation, which has been considered a terrorist organisation by the government since the failed uprising.

Turan also faced between three and 12 years in prison for other alleged offences of assault, threats and unlawful possession of a weapon due to an altercation with Turkish singer Berkay Sahin, who Turan allegedly headbutted and broke his nose in an Istanbul nightclub.

According to local press reports, Turan allegedly harassed the singer's wife, Özlem Ada, leading to the confrontation. Sahin and Ada then went to a hospital, but Turan shortly afterwards followed them and fired a shot from his pistol as they walked into the medical centre, causing no injuries.

Basaksehir had fined the player 2.5 million liras (about 370,000 euros) for "attitudes incompatible with the values of the club", but kept him on until the verdict.

Arda Turan Career Statistics

In this section of Arda Turan biography, we will take a look into the player’s career on the international and club level. Stay tuned.

Club

Since 2004 when he started his career at Galatasaray, until now that he plays for the same club, after having many adventures in between, Arda Turan has played a total of 523 matches in all competitions, scoring 90 goals.

International

In a period of 11 years between 2006 and 2017, he was part of the Turkey national team, playing a total of 100 matches and scoring 17 goals.

Arda Turan Honors

During his career, the Turkish superstar has managed to win the Super Lig,

, Copa del Rey, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup and Supercopa de España and was runner up in the 2013-14 UEFA

.

With the Turkish national team, Arda Turan was third-placed in the 2008 European Championship.

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