Background and career
Arda Turan (born 30 January 1987) is a Turkish professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk. During his playing career, which included six years in the Spanish La Liga with Atlético Madrid and Barcelona, Turan was mostly known for his ball control, dribbling skills and vision. At age 22, prior to the 2009–10 season, he was named captain of Galatasaray. Following a successful UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, Turan was ranked eighth in a selection of the 100 Best Young Football Players in the World piece published by Spanish magazine Don Balón in July 2008. Turan was ranked 38th in "The 100 Best Footballers in the World" by The Guardian in 2014, the only player on the list to be born in Turkey. On 25 November 2014, Turan was nominated for the UEFA Team of the Year for 2014, among 39 other players. Turan gained 100 senior national caps and scored 17 goals for the Turkey national team, making him Turkey's sixth-most capped player of all-time.
Turan is a product of the Galatasaray youth. He was promoted to the Galatasaray first-team by manager Gheorghe Hagi in 2004–05 season, and he made his official debut against Bursaspor in a Turkish Cup match on 22 January 2005. He then had a spell on loan to fellow Süper Lig side Manisaspor in the second half of the 2005–06 season. In the 2005–06 season, Turan scored two goals for the team based in Manisa. Turan was recalled to Galatasaray for the start of the 2006–07 season and quickly broke into the first team. It was during this time that he received his first senior international call up. He helped Galatasaray qualify for the following season's UEFA Champions League group stage. Turan continued his development in the 2007–08 season, scoring seven goals in the second half of the season. At the start of the 2009–10 season, Turan was handed the captaincy of Galatasaray and given squad number 10, which had previously belonged to Metin Oktay and Hagi; Turan previously wore number 66. As captain at the start of season, Turan guided his team to six consecutive league wins games which put Galatasaray comfortably at the top of the table. In the 2010–11 season, he was troubled with injuries and played a limited number of games. By the end of the season, he had played in only 12 league matches, scoring two goals; and in three Turkish Cup matches, where he scored one. His impressive performances over the last four years of his Galatasaray career lead to interest from Spanish club Atlético Madrid.
In the late hours of 9 August 2011, it was announced Turan would be joining Atlético Madrid for a €12 million transfer fee plus bonuses, making him the most expensive Turkish footballer of all-time.
He was handed the number 11 shirt and made his 2011–12 La Liga debut on 28 August 2011 against Osasuna, entering as a substitute in the second half. He made his UEFA Europa League debut on 15 September against Celtic, starting the match and assisting a goal. On 18 September, he was again selected for the starting XI and provided two assists. On 25 October, Galatasaray club president Ünal Aysal stated Turan will come back to Galatasaray in the future under right of first refusal that was signed between Galatasaray and Atlético during an interview with Lig TV. On 30 November, Turan scored his first goal for Atlético in a Europa League match against Celtic with a powerful volley. On 11 December, he scored his first La Liga goal with a driven volley just outside the box. In the Europa League match that followed, he netted again in a 3–1 win against Rennes. Turan scored two goals in two minutes as Atlético defeated Espanyol 3–1 on 22 April 2012 to move his side into seventh place in the league standings and just three points behind Málaga for the final Champions League spot. On 9 May, in the 2012 UEFA Europa League Final against Athletic Bilbao, he made an assist to his teammate Radamel Falcao, which made the score 2–0.
Turan's number was changed from 11 to 10 before the 2012–13 season. He began his season with a game-tying long-distance screamer in Atlético's 1–1 La Liga season opener against Levante. He then won the 2012 UEFA Super Cup with Atlético against Champions League victors Chelsea, assisting Falcao for the third goal of the game in a 4–1 victory. On 16 September 2012, he scored the third goal of the game against Rayo Vallecano in a 4–3 home win.
He was instrumental in Atlético's wins in their first two 2013–14 Champions League matches against Zenit Saint Petersburg and Porto, scoring a goal in each match. On 30 April 2014, he scored the last goal of a 3–1 away win against Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Champions League, sending Atlético to the final for the first time since 1974.
