Background and career
Arda Güler (Turkish pronunciation: [aɾˈda ˈɟylæɾ] ; born 25 February 2005) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Turkey national team. Known for his technical ability and skill, he is regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. Güler began his senior career with the Turkish club Fenerbahçe in 2021, where he won the Turkish Cup in 2023. In the summer of the latter year, Güler signed with Spanish side Real Madrid. In his inaugural season with the Spanish giants, he won La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. At the international level, Güler made his senior debut for Turkey in 2022. He was a member of the squad for UEFA Euro 2024, and played a key role in the team's run to the quarter-finals. He also represented Turkey at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where the Turkish team was eliminated after the group stage.
Güler started his youth career at Ankara-based club Gençlerbirliği in 2014. Arda Güler was discovered by Fenerbahçe on 20 February 2019, when he was only 13 years old, and was included in the youth squad. Güler, who has played in all of the Fenerbahçe youth teams including U-15, U-16 and U-19, first started playing for the Fenerbahçe U-15 team in the 2018-19 season, and was taken to the U-16 team in 2020 and the U19 team in 2021. He contributed 7 goals and 4 assists in 18 matches for the Fenerbahçe U-19 team. He made 3 goals and 1 assist in the U-19 Play-Off quarterfinal match, and thus attracted attention as the top scorer in that season's Play-Off.
Güler signed a two-and-a-half-year-long professional contract with Fenerbahçe on 13 January 2021. He was considered as a wonderkid and seen as a big prospect for the future.
Güler made his senior debut as a substitute player against Finnish club HJK in the play-off round encounter of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League. Held at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium on 19 August 2021, it ended 1–0 for Fenerbahçe. In his first Süper Lig match three days later, he provided the assist that let Miha Zajc score a goal at the 89th minute of the 2–0 victory over Antalyaspor. He started getting more playing time as the 2021–22 season progressed. In March 2022, Güler became Fenerbahçe's youngest goalscorer in Süper Lig history, having just turned 17 three weeks earlier. By May 2022, Güler had scored 3 goals and delivered 3 assists in just 255 minutes of playing time. After an impressive start to his career, it was reported that big European clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain showed their interest in signing him. On 17 March 2022, Fenerbahçe announced that they had signed a three-year contract with him.
At the start of 2022–23 season, after the departure of Mesut Özil, Güler was given the number 10, which has a special meaning for Fenerbahçe fans, being the number of former players Alex de Souza and Jay-Jay Okocha. Güler played his first match of the season against Kasımpaşa and scored two goals in 21 minutes of play. On 3 November 2022, he scored his first goal in European competitions, and also provided an assist, in a 2–0 away win over Dynamo Kyiv in the Europa League group stage. On 11 June 2023, Güler put in a man of the match performance in a 2–0 win at 2023 Turkish Cup final against İstanbul Başakşehir. On 6 July, Güler took to Instagram to announce his departure from Fenerbahçe, marking the end of his tenure with the Turkish club.
On 6 July 2023, La Liga club Real Madrid announced the signing of Güler to a six-year contract lasting until June 2029. The deal was sealed by triggering his release clause with an initial payment of €20 million, which surpassed the €17.5 million clause from his former contract with Fenerbahçe. Güler requested Real Madrid to pay beyond his release clause to raise funds for his former club.
