Arda Turan

Arda Turan (born 30 January 1987) is a Turkish professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk.

During his playing career, which included six years in the Spanish La Liga with Atlético Madrid and Barcelona, Turan was mostly known for his ball control, dribbling skills and vision. At age 22, prior to the 2009–10 season, he was named captain of Galatasaray.

Following a successful UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, Turan was ranked eighth in a selection of the 100 Best Young Football Players in the World piece published by Spanish magazine Don Balón in July 2008. Turan was ranked 38th in "The 100 Best Footballers in the World" by The Guardian in 2014, the only player on the list to be born in Turkey. On 25 November 2014, Turan was nominated for the UEFA Team of the Year for 2014, among 39 other players.

Turan gained 100 senior national caps and scored 17 goals for the Turkey national team, making him Turkey's fifth-most capped player of all-time.

Club career

Galatasaray

Turan is a product of the Galatasaray youth. He was promoted to the Galatasaray first-team by manager Gheorghe Hagi in 2004–05 season, and he made his official debut against Bursaspor in a Turkish Cup match on 22 January 2005. He then had a spell on loan to fellow Süper Lig side Manisaspor in the second half of the 2005–06 season. In the 2005–06 season, Turan scored two goals for the team based in Manisa.