On a bright note, Arda Turan is expected to be back in action. His absence has left a huge gap in our team and drastically effected the teams chemistry. Having him back will strengthen the left wing and open up many more chances in our offensive attack. Im looking forward to the game and expecting a 3-1 victory. Lets go CimBom!!!!

Ali Turan, who went through hell to even come and wear a GS jersey, has been offloaded to Antalyaspor. He caught a lot of flack for making some huge mistakes during his time here, but in my opinion he didn’t deserve any of it. The guy was a Center Back, a star CB at Kayserispor I might add, yet we decided to use him as a Right Back and expected greatness. Do you think Servet would be able to play RB? We now only have Servet and Neill and no subs in case they get injured. Ali Turan might not have played well during his time here, but I think he should have stayed.

Serdar Ozkan….good riddance, nothing but drama good luck at Ankara.

Musa Cagiran and Mehmet Batdal have been loaned to Konyaspor for the rest of the season. A great move to get these guys some playing time and experience. Musa, sent earlier then Batdal, was voted Man of Match against Bursaspor by goal.com. Lets hope Batdal can do just as well.

We strengthened our Midfield with the additions of Culio and Yekta Kurtulus. Culio seems to have excellent vision and set up some great plays so far, for 1.5M I think he was a great buy. The guy has Champions league experience and plays with heart, exactly what we need. Yekta Kurtulus is one of the top Turks in the league who also has an eye for the game and knows how to create and attack. With Yekta, Culio and Cana our weak midfield no longer seems to be a problem.

Milan Baros seems to be healing well and now with the addition of Bogdan Stancu our front line looks like a force to be reckoned with. Stancu the top prospect from Romania, is viewed as the replacement for Mutu on their NT. I’ve only seen him play in one game for us, but the kid is quick and knows how to cut throught the defense. If we play with 2 strikers and pair him Baros, they can be a lethal duo.

Kazim Kazim who was released by Fenerbahce, came to GS for free. At first I was disgusted we would even pick this guy up but he seems very eager to prove himself. He did very well in the friendlies and seems to have matured a bit. I’m still not completely satisfied with this move, but he’s our player now and deserves a chance. Lets hope he shows us he was worth it.

Last but not least, we picked up Robinson Zapata, a colombian striker from Steau Bucharest. I really wish we’d just let Ufuk develop. The kid may have made a mistake last week, but which goalie hasnt? Lets face it were, besides the Turkish cup we dont really have much to hope for this season. We need to let our young’ns get some playing time and develop. Im hoping Zapata was just brought in to replace Aykut as a 2nd goalie, which even if he was is just a waste of a foreign spot. We could have used that to bring in a new Center back for next season incase Neill doesnt continue with us.

All in all I think we made some great moves, people are constantly complaining about the players on our team, well there you have it. We’ve filled alot of the gaps in the lineup. With Baros healthy, and Lucas Neill and Kewell back from National Team duties we almost have a full team. Lets hope we can take out Gaziantepspor and BJK and take the Cup this season, because we dont have much else to look forward to.

The second transfer is highly-rated, 25-year old Yekta Kurtulus from Kasimpasa SK who can play anywhere in the midfield. His contract is going to last 4.5 years. It is said that the transfer fee is €3.75m (although there might have been some player swap involved).

The last signing is a talented, 23-year old Steaua Bucharest striker, Bogdan Stancu. The transfer fee is said to be €5.6m (a record for Romanian Liga I player, previously held by Stefan Radu who went to Lazio for €5.4m) + 30% of future transfer fee to Steaua. Stancu is a striker who possesses very powerful shot, and is quite a prolific goalscorer, having scored 13 goals in 18 games in the domestic league this season. He has also played the most minutes out of all Steaua players.

Ali Sami Yen is set to be demolished and our new stadium, Türk Telekom Arena is set to be opened on January, 15th with a game against Ajax Amsterdam. Ali Sami Yen used to be a ground for many legendary events and hosted many legendary players who graced its pitch. Let’s hope we can move on to the future with fresh mindset, determination and the right decisions regarding our club in order to turn things around.

Squads:

Galatasaray:
Aykut Erçetin, Serkan Kurtuluş, Servet Çetin, Gökhan Zan (30′ Culio), Inusa, Bariş Özbek (70′ Emre Çolak), Hakan Balta, Ayhan Akman, Aydin Yilmaz (46′ Kazim-Kazim), Arda Turan, Pino

Bench:
Ufuk Ceylan, Mustafa Sarp, Ahmet Kesim, Culio, Emre Çolak, Sabri Sarioglu, Kazim-Kazim

Beypazari Şekerspor:
Önder Tiryaki, Serkan Tanriseven, Ali Işleyen, Serkan Pala, Erhan Yildirim, Selahattin Yaman (71′ Sefa), Özgür Çelik (65′ Atalay), Hüseyin Iriç, Caner Arici, Salih Sefercik, Coşkun Yilmaz

Yellow cards:
26′ Özgür, 67′ Hüseyin (Beypazari Şekerspor)

Goals
73′ Servet Çetin, 80′ Arda Turan, 90′ Kazim-Kazim (Galatasaray), 23′ Caner (Beypazari Şekerspor)

Today, we have terminated contract with Serdar Özkan by mutual consent. He will go down as one of the most useless transfers and players in our history. Being a free transfer after Adnan Sezgin’s mastermind decision won’t soften the impression of utter futility of this player’s existence.

Source:

http://www.galatasaray.org/futbol/futbol_as/haber/8999.php

It is official. We have signed Emmanuel Culio from CFR Cluj for a fee between €1.5-2m, he’s most famous for scoring 2 goals versus AS Roma in Champions League back in 2008. His jersey number is 27 and he has signed a 3.5-year deal. He is 27 years old and can play as either central midfielder, central attacking midfielder and left winger.

Discuss our latest signing.

We’ve also extended the contract with Anil Dilaver till 2014-15 season. Moreover, we’ve also signed a 16-year old Berk İsmail Ünsal from Gaziosmanpaşa Spor Kulübü on a 2-year contract.

Come here and discuss our latest signing. What are your thoughts and feelings about the deal?

An insider source (who has been proved to be right regarding Lorik Cana’s and Juan Pablo Pino’s transfers) claims that Galatasaray have completed the signing of Lucas Biglia – Argentinian, 24-year old central midfielder from Anderlecht. According to the information, he is expected to be officially unveilled on the very first day of winter transfer window. He is a right-footed holding midfielder with playmaking abilities, capable of taking both penalties, corners and free-kicks. In Anderlecht, so far, he has been featured in 131 league games, scoring 5 times, and assisting 21 times; he has also played 6 times (additional 8 times in qualifications, scoring there once, and having 1 assist) in Champions League group stage games (1 assist), as well as 10 times in now-defunct UEFA Cup and 12 times in Europa League, scoring 2 times. He also took part in winning FIFA U-20 World Cup Championship in 2005, playing alongside such players as Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguerro, Ezequiel Garay, Pablo Zabaletta, and Fernando Gago.

The rumoured fee is 4.5 m €, however this is yet to be confirmed. What I hope that is going to be confirmed with this transfer, is the redundancy of the likes of Ayhan.

Another transfer rumour, however a lot less solid regards Newell’s Old Boys’ attacking midfielder, Argentinian 22-year old Mauro Formica. The Argentinian media have reported that Galatasaray have made a concrete offer and the talks are in advanced stages. He plays as an attacking midfielder or as a second striker and is considered one of the bigger talents in Argentina.

Who are they?

Personal information
Full name Artjoms Rudnevs
Date of birth January 13, 1988 (1988-01-13) (age 22)
Place of birth Ilukste, Latvian SSR
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Winger, Striker

He has joined Lech Poznan just this season, having played in Hungarian First League in Zalaegerszegi TE (scoring 16 goals in 25 appearances last season), has scored 7 goals in 15 league apps so far, as well as 4 in 5 Europa League games, scoring all of his goals against Juventus, including his hat-trick in the first game. He is a hard-working, ambitious, determined and aggressive player. Despite being not very tall, he is very strong and is very good in the air. He has also a powerful placed shot. A fee around 2-3 m € for him is a maximum, and a reasonable one.

Personal information
Full name Senijad Ibricić
Date of birth 26 September 1985 (1985-09-26) (age 25)
Place of birth Kotor Varoš, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Midfielder, Second striker

He has played in Croatian league since 2004 (55 goals in 163 games). Last season, he has won Heart of Hajduk Award for the best Hajduk Split player, as well as Sportske novosti Yellow Shirt award after being voted the best player of their entire league. Ibricić is extremely versatile player, capable of playing as attacking midfielder, supporting striker, on either of wings, as well as central midfielder. He possesses sublime technique, flair, is very hard-working and helpful in defence, very determined and ambitious. I think he is precisely the player Galatasaray needs, playing behind Baros as a supporting striker (like vs Kasimpasa with Pino as a striker and Kewell as a supporting striker).