Kenan Yildiz joins Arda Guler – The most valuable players from Türkiye of all time

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€45m top valuation 

©TM/IMAGO

Türkiye is arguably home to the most passionate football fans in the world, which they highlighted by their incredible support at Euro 2024. Football is a way of life in Türkiye and the biggest clubs in the country have fanatical support. This was highlighted with Galatasaray and Fenerbahce being the two most popular club profiles on Transfermarkt in 2024.

Türkiye will be determined to reach the World Cup in 2026 and their prospects will rely heavily on the shoulders of two exceptional young talents – Arda Güler and Kenan Yildiz. While Yildiz failed to provide a goal contribution at Euro 2024, Guler showcased his incredible potential by scoring a stunning goal in the opening game against Türkiye before two further assists. But Yildiz has been superb for Juventus this season and he earned a market value upgrade in the Serie A update to become the joint most valuable Turkish player in history.

Yildiz received a €5 million upgrade in the Serie A with his market value rising to €45m. The 19-year-old has been a regular for Thiago Motta for Juve and he’s provided nine goal contributions in 23 games across all competitions. The versatile attacker has played predominantly on the left-wing and the next challenge will be to improve his attacking output as he becomes more accustomed to the demands of first-team football.

 But as the graphic above shows, Yildiz is now the joint most valuable Türkiye player in history as one of four to be valued at €45m. Real Madrid star Güler is the only other player to be currently valued at €45m after Hakan Çalhanoğlu was downgraded by €5m to €40m in the Serie A update. The Inter Milan midfielder was upgraded to €45m in June but he’s been downgraded with his season disrupted by injury. The only other Türkiye player to reach €45m was Çağlar Söyüncü in 2021 while the centre-back was at Leicester City. Söyüncü was only valued at €18m when he moved to England from Freiberg and his market value soared but it’s now dropped to just €9m at Fenerbache.