Top 10 most expensive Turkish players in football history

Turkish teenage sensation Arda Güler joins Real Madrid in a record-breaking deal

Football in Turkey has been making a lot of progress of late. Some of the Turkish players have been in sensational form over the past 12 months and there has been a lot of interest in their services. Meanwhile, Orkun Kökçü and Arda Güler have been the talk of the town because of their big-money move in the ongoing window.

While these moves are not record deals in the history of football, they're right up there when it comes to transfers related to Turkish players. And, given the fact that both Güler and Kökçü are young, their big-money moves are a sign of progress for football in Turkey. Here is a list of the top 10 most expensive Turkish players in the history of football.

10. Hakan Çalhanoğlu - €15.3M (Hamburger SV to Bayer 04 Leverkusen)

Back in June 2014 an elated Bayer Leverkusen chief executive Michael Schade had let the world know about their acquisition of Hamburger SV's rising star. The deal saw Hakan Çalhanoğlu move to Leverkusen, a club in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The transfer fee involved in this move which happened in 2014, still sits as the tenth most expensive move for a Turkish International.

9. Yusuf Yazici - €18.5M (Trabzonspor to LOSC Lille)

At ninth is a local boy from Trabzon, Turkey. Yazici was groomed in the Trabzonspor youth setup before breaking into the first team. In December 2015, the attack-minded midfielder was finally living his dream of representing Trabzonspor in the official games.

LOSC Lille was cash full after receiving €80 million for their winger Nicolas Pepe in 2019 and decided to bring in Yusuf Yazici for €18.5M.

8. Merih Demiral - €19.5M (Sassuolo to Juventus)

Merih Demiral fills in both the eighth and seventh spots on the list.

While he was contracted to Sassuolo, Serie A giants Juventus came calling. A reported sum of €19.5 million secured Demiral's signing to the Old Lady. Later on, the Turkish centre-back was seen lining up for a total of 32 games in his entire stay before Juve decided to let him leave on a loan-to-buy deal.

7. Merih Demiral - €21M (Juventus to Atalanta BC)

Atalanta BC accepted loan-to-buy terms with Juventus to bring in Merih Demiral after his two-year stay in Turin. After spending the 2021-22 season on loan playing for the home crowd of Gewiss Stadium, his stay was made permanent. Although initially it was believed Demiral would be heading back to the Bianconeris after his loan. But as things stood officially, Atlanta forked out a sum of €21 million for the Turkey international in the summer of 2022.

6. Çağlar Söyüncü - €21.1M (SC Freiburg to Leicester City)

The 2021 FA Cup winner with Leicester City now has left the King Power Stadium to make Metropolitan Stadium his home. But before that, if we go back to 2018 August, the Foxes paid €21.1 million to SC Freiburg, a club based in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. This made the now 53-capped Turkish international the sixth most expensive Turkish player in history.

5. Cenk Tosun - €22.5M (Besiktas JK to Everton FC)

Cenk Tosun was born in Wetzlar, Germany but holds dual citizenship. Internationally he chose Turkey to represent in national stage games for whom he has played on 49 occasions by now. The striker rose through the ranks of Eintracht Frankfurt's youth setup before moving to Gaziantepspor in January 2011. Seven years down the line, Premier League side Everton decided to pay €22.5 million to Besiktas JK in the winter transfer window for Tosun.

4. Hakan Çalhanoğlu - €23.3M (Bayer 04 Leverkusen to AC Milan)

On the move again. Hakan Çalhanoğlu this time was wanted by an Italian club. Serie A giants AC Milan in July of 2017 officially announced their signing of Bayer Leverkusen's ace midfielder. During the three years with Bundesliga side Leverkusen, Çalhanoğlu made 115 appearances. And left a mark with 29 assists over his 28 goals to complement it.

3. Orkun Kökçü - €25M (Feyenoord to SL Benfica)

Kokcu joined the youth academy of Feyenoord back in the summer of 2014. He had since come up the ranks at the club and established himself as a regular. The 22-year-old midfielder has been in exceptional touch over the past 18 months and there was a lot of interest in his service in the ongoing summer. However, Portuguese club Benfica managed to come out on top in his race and acquired the Turkish sensation for €25 million.

2. Arda Güler - €30M (Fenerbahçe SK to Real Madrid)

€30 million is what Real Madrid will pay Fenerbahce for the services of Arda Güler. The teenager has been in exceptional form of late and he was also on the radar of rivals FC Barcelona. The Catalan giants had sent Deco to complete the deal. However, Los Blancos managed to overpower them in signing Güler who is dubbed as the 'Turkish Messi'. The teenager has penned down a six-year deal with the Spanish giants.

1. Arda Turan - €34M (Atlético de Madrid to FC Barcelona)

In the summer of 2015, Barcelona went all out to sign Arda Turan from rivals Atletico Madrid. The now 36-year-old winger was on fire back then and he was one of the best players in Diego Simeone's ranks. The Argentine was not ready to sell but the Catalan giants were determined and ended up spending €34 million to land him at Camp Nou. He now manages Eyüpspor in the second tier of the Turkish football league, TFF 1. League.