Galatasaray, which will face Çaykur Rizespor in the 5th week of the Trendyol Süper Lig, has had a very active transfer window. Speaking on the last day of the first transfer and registration period in football, Vice President Metin Öztürk responded to the criticism.
Here are Öztürk’s remarks:
“WHY GALATASARAY?”
“There are 19 teams in the Süper Lig. Today is the final day for all 19 teams. I don’t know why Galatasaray is under so much spotlight. After this team won the championship, people could have said we only needed one or two players. One of the top three forwards in the world has come, but still, there’s talk. Remember, we have Icardi, and he is our king! Then Batshuayi came, who is considered a second forward, but plays like a first forward. We made five very valuable transfers. Except for Kerem Aktürkoğlu, those who left were players who didn’t find much opportunity in the starting 11 last season.”
“WE MUST MOVE AWAY FROM SHOWY TRANSFERS”
“When two or three players would have been enough, I find it hard to understand how five players are seen as insufficient. Our coach Okan and our scouting team have a plan. There are players being discussed within this plan. If you pay 5 lira for a player worth 1 lira, it doesn’t just affect us, it binds future managements as well. I had criticized our former president Mustafa Cengiz, saying ‘You threw away 50 million euros from Gomis to Falcao.’ We need to move away from these showy transfers.”
“THIS MANAGEMENT’S MISTAKE…”
“Our biggest problem is explaining what we’ve done. We ask ourselves why we are explaining it as if it’s our duty. Does this management have a mistake? Yes, it does! It’s that we’ve done in one term what should have been done in five. This naturally frightens the competition. Why don’t you ask about the other 18 teams? Today is the final day for them too. Are we going to play with five goalkeepers, five forwards, and five defenders?”
“WHILE OUR RIVAL HASN’T WON A TITLE IN 11 YEARS…”
“The reason we are sending players to other teams is due to squad excess. Look, Beşiktaş is facing the same issue. None of these footballers are coming for just six months. If we are going to add an extra 50-100 million euros to the club’s expenses, why did I criticize Mustafa Cengiz? We need to use our resources wisely. There may be transfers that we finalize in the next 1-2 hours, but I don’t have any information on that. When two or three players are enough, five world-class transfers have been made. While our rival hasn’t won a championship in 11 years, we’ve won it twice in two years.”
“THE REAL FANS KNOW”
“The real Galatasaray fans know that this team is focused on one thing: the 25th championship and the 5th star! Everyone will see that while others are ashamed of their fake 5th star, we will proudly wear our real 5th star with our fans.”
