Arda Turan was the greatest Turkish footballer of his generation, the captain of his beloved Galatasaray at 22, a star for Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid side which stunned football by winning La Liga in 2014. A hugely gifted and creative attacking player, he joined treble winners Barcelona in 2015 and played 100 times for Turkey.
Smart and intelligent but sometimes controversial, and a man who didn’t always see eye to eye with referees, Turan admits that he can be "crazy" and he wasn’t always expected to become a coach, let alone one who has excelled.
Now a coach at Eyüpspor, a small club from Istanbul’s burgeoning suburbs whom he took into Turkey’s Super Lig for the first time this season, Turan, 38, meets The National for an exclusive interview at the club’s snowbound yet ultra-modern training ground 30 minutes from the centre of Istanbul. He offers us Turkish tea and starts to talk.
How is life as a coach?
I didn’t think I would lead such a life as a coach. If you want to work, you can work 24 hours. It’s such a job. You are always thinking. You have 11 players, 11 opponents, five changes. If I got into detail, 24 hours is not enough.
Guardiola, Klopp, Arteta – they are geniuses of this sport and you try to follow them, to see all the different systems that are played, but on the other hand you have Luis Enrique, my old Barcelona coach.
I don’t look at what he did at PSG with Kylian [Mbappe] or Messi or all those players, I look at what he did with the Spain national team. His team lost to Italy in the semi-final (in 2021) but it was a great, great game. Offensively, Luis Enrique is my idol. And, on a personal level, I love him. He’s in my heart. If he has an issue then he says it face to face – the true way. Hard, fair.
Last year, my wife and children were on holiday on a boat in the south of Turkey. He swam to my boat and shouted ‘Arda!’ I wasn’t there. He came to see me.
Tell us about your childhood
I had everything from my family. My father worked for Turkish Airlines on the ground services. My mother was a housewife. Both were good Galatasaray fans.
Galatasaray is my biggest love. Maybe someone who supports River Plate or Boca Juniors can understand. I became a ball boy when I was 11 years old. A famous ball boy! I gave the ball to [John Arne] Riise and he gave it to Emile Heskey and scored. I was so disappointed that I had made a mistake.
There’s also a photo of Georgi Hagi’s last game for Galatasaray. He scored and there’s a ball boy cheering the goal. Me!
I joined Galatasaray when I was young. I had been playing in the neighbourhood. I was injured and sat in the side. I was nine years old. A guy came to me and said: ‘Do you want to play football?’
I told him that it was my dream to play for Galatasaray. He gave me a card for the Galatasaray academy. I went and was selected. June ’99. In the August a bad earthquake. It was a bad time, many people died. I would pray at night for the people, but I would also pray that when my time came I would do well in just one training session. That’s all I wanted from life, to play well in one training session. In September, our first training session.
I was a good student too, but I was a mess emotionally when Galatasaray lost games. I did have some friends who supported Fenerbahce and Galatasaray. I believe in the rights of the other teams too, and that you should respect other teams. The rivalry between Fenerbahce and Galatasaray is not going through a good spell. We speak about the things which happen off the field rather than what happens on it and that is not good.
How did it feel when you broke into Galatasaray’s first team?
I felt like I was a superhero. The first time I played was in a Champions League qualification game. The president told us that we had an economic crisis. That if we won then we would get paid. And that if we didn’t win then we would get paid five months later. We won 5-2 and I scored two and made two assists. The fans sang my name. That’s why I felt like a superhero and I shared the dreams of the fans.
It wasn’t just for Galatasaray. In 2009 we played against Spain on that pitch in a World Cup qualifier. We lost 1-2 against the team who would win the World Cup the following year, but I felt like Messi. I was 21 but I felt like the boss. They had Ramos, Pique, Xabi Alonso, Torres, Xavi. We were leading until the 62nd minute when Xabi Alonso scored, then Albert Riera after 92 minutes.
I loved that stadium. I was the last prince of the old stadium, the last captain. It was small, but it was like hell for the other teams. 'Welcome to Hell!' You know that if you support Manchester United. 3-3, 0-0. It was the first time I cried tears of happiness. I was six years old watching on television the game in England. Peter Schmeichel told people that he would not concede three goals and he conceded three. I respect Manchester United, a huge club, but knocking United out of Europe so that we could play Champions League football was a big deal.
Why did you leave Galatasaray for Atletico Madrid?
I wanted to be tested at the next level. I had a chance to go when I was 20 but I postponed it because I wanted to help Galatasaray, but by 24 I had been injured and was a bit weaker. Which was bad, but it helped me to go because I was not at my strongest. Galatasaray also got a lot of money for me, a record fee for a Turkish player.
Istanbul to Madrid is a big change. Was it difficult?
The first six months was in a new place without the language, but my first coach was Gregorio Manzano, who was a help. A calm, sympathetic man. We played well and there were lots of goals in our games, but we’d lose too many.
Then it changed to Cholo [Diego Simeone]. Had I had him first then maybe it would have been more difficult because my character is not easy.
But I always felt that we could win the Europa League (in 2012). We played Celtic in the group stage and I played well. Then Cholo arrived (in December, 2011). Wow. He changed the mentality immediately. What a man. Every day he would tell us to fight, fight, fight. He’d say to all of us: ‘You’re not Messi, so you need to fight and work and get closer to the levels of the players who are better than you. Play with your heart and your head. Together we are family. Don’t think of yourself, think of the team.’ We worked so hard under Cholo, we tried 4-4-2 or 4-5-1. He told us that if we gave everything then you have a chance to win any game. I was learning so much and I felt that I earned the respect of Cholo, just as he respects me. First it was respect, then it was love.
At Atletico, it didn’t matter who we played, we played as a team. If I was substitute then I supported the player in my position. Honestly. If it was Raul Garcia or Diego Costa I would encourage them. We all became friends. We won the Europa League in 2012 and I felt that we were a team of 16 which nobody could touch. We did everything together; we did not need outsiders. We would have a party in our own homes, we didn’t need others.
We had a wonderful team spirit. We’d go to see the Pope at the Vatican and I would go along too, even though I am not a Catholic. And when I prayed, the others respected me and tried to learn from me.
We once watched Real Madrid on TV flying off to a game in Los Angeles. We were in Segovia doing strength and conditioning training starting at 7am each day. Their players had sunglasses and smart clothes on. Cholo said. ‘This is Madrid. Or Barcelona. They can do that. You are not as talented as they are, so when they are flying to Los Angeles in sunglasses and suits, you need to be working hard so that we can fight with them. And when you do that, you can fly to Los Angeles wearing sunglasses’.
In 2013-14, Atletico Madrid broke the Barcelona and Real Madrid duopoly on La Liga, winning the title at Camp Nou on the final day in front of 98,000 fans
We only needed a draw, but Cholo said to us, ‘We are going there to win’. And Diego Godin scored [starts to sing a song about Diego Godin]. Before that, I left the field after 23 minutes. Injured. I cried in the dressing room. I was sad and nervous and I didn’t want to watch the team. I know how strong Barcelona are at home. The kit-man shouted ‘Goal!’. Godin. I went outside. We were champions.
I’m in touch with all these guys still, they are coming to see me in May in Istanbul. I miss them all. Gabi, Tiago – what a player, so intelligent, David Villa, Courtois, Koke. We were full of leaders. I’m a crazy guy and my body language is enough for anyone to be inspired from. I would fight for my team, no problem and I played in a team of players with balls.
I respect the Premier League that Leicester City won but I honestly feel that Atletico is more significant. It’s the biggest in football history. Madrid had Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema; Barcelona had Messi, Neymar, Suarez. They were the best two big teams in history. They were winning the Champions League, yet we beat them to the title. We needed to be winning every week because they won every week. We would go to Bilbao and beat Athletic 1-0. So tough. We’d hope that Barcelona lost at Sevilla, a tough game. They’d win 4-1 and kill your dreams every week. We hoped that Real Madrid wouldn’t beat Osasuna … they won 4-0. It seemed to happen every week, but Cholo told us to go game by game. Of course we could not lose against Barcelona and Real Madrid. We drew twice against Barcelona. We beat Real Madrid away 1-0.
After all that success with Atletico, why leave for Barcelona (in 2015), once again becoming the most expensive Turkish player in history?
I was in love with passing, with tiki taka – Luis Enrique and Guardiola now play an upgraded version of this – and Barcelona had just won the treble with Messi, Dani Alves, Xavi, Iniesta, Pique, Busquets. Luis Enrique was coach. If I hadn’t signed for them then something would be missing in my life. I could learn from the best, but I wasn’t allowed to play for the first six months because of Barcelona’s transfer ban for signing underage players.
That was very frustrating to watch for six months, even though seeing Messi playing is one of the best things of my life. He’s the best player in history and I also respect Cristiano [Ronaldo] a lot. With Messi you can control every minute of the game. If he wants to pass he can do it better than anyone. If he wants to press then it’s the same. Or head the ball, the same. Penalties, free-kicks or if he wants to drop behind the defence he can do it better than anyone. If he played in goal he’d probably be the best. I started to play with him – he scored 54 goals in my second season at Barcelona. I scored 13 from 30 games.
My job was to give him the ball in a position where he was as close to the goal, where he was most dangerous, as possible. It was impossible to play badly behind Messi, Neymar – who always wanted to dribble – and Suarez. Barcelona were less effective when Neymar and Suarez, one of the best strikers, didn’t run back as much. And losing Iniesta was a big loss for Barcelona.
Those battles between Barcelona and Atletico were legendary
And between Atletico and Real Madrid, too. We knew everything about their players and not just the forwards but Casemiro and Modric and the defenders. But Atletico did well and played against Real Madrid in two Champions League finals. We can now say that Atletico are a major world side – and the players can now go to Los Angeles wearing sunglasses!
It was very difficult for Barcelona to play Atletico and vice versa. We knew too much about each other; we knew the small details. It was the same players season after season.
When I went to play against Atletico, Simeone was hostile during the game. Because if you are against Simeone then you are against him. But when you are with him he is a fantastic human who only wants the best for you.
What are you like as a coach?
Defensively I learned from Simeone and offensively I learned from Luis Enrique. I must mention Fatih Terim at Galatasaray for attacking ideas and Guus Hiddink, too, for being cool with his players. Me, I am young and I need to learn to solve all the problems on the field.
I’m very honest with my players, I don’t lie. I am with them all the time if they need help from me. I know that they are dreaming of being top football players so I must show them how to do it in a positive way. I must create a safe and happy playing ground. But I want to change the style of football and the mentality in Turkey. And I will. I believe that one day a Turkish team will win a European trophy. This is my dream, either for a club or for the national team. I played 100 times for my country and each time it felt like I had passed the audition to be selected. Even if it was a friendly, I played like it was the last game of my life because I was worried I would not be selected for the next game.
And for the future, I want to coach the clubs that I played for. I have a dream of working in Europe and what we have achieved with Eyüpspor over the past two years has caught the attention of the football world.
We are a small club, competing in the top league for the first time. Despite this, we are in fifth place in the league and rank among the top teams in several statistical categories. We are trying to establish a football culture here. From time to time, I hear about interest from European clubs. I closely follow world football. The game is evolving very quickly and keeping up with that pace is crucial. That’s why I strive to improve and adapt myself.
But we should always remember that the game is still the game that we played on the streets. And if we lose that feeling then we lose the joy of playing. And too much time in Turkey is spent fighting about the things that happen off the field. We need to go back to concentrating on what happens on the pitch.
