Fenerbahce Acquiring A Spanish Flavor

By: chris | July 8th, 2008

Turkey’s European squad which stole victories from the jaws of defeat as though it were a leisurely Sunday stroll in the park was dominated by Galatasaray players. So their fierce city rivals Fenerbahce have decided to do one better, plucking at Spain’s championship squad. Trophies > feel good stories, after all. It began with the gaffer, Luis Aragones, who wasn’t feeling the love after being denied a contract extension before his Swissaustria victory. And today the Instanbul club announced more Spanish thievery, this time in the form of Dani Guiza, last year’s La Liga top scorer with 27 for Mallorca. So they got the reigning European Championship winning coach and the top hitman from the league considered the best in the world by UEFA - who also has a fresh continental medal. Not bad.

Fenerbahce sort of flew under the radar last year as a Cinderella story. They unexpectedly reached the quarterfinals and won their home fixture against Chelsea 2-1, with CSKA London’s lone goal being an own goal, before succumbing to 2-0 defeat back at Stamford Bridge (meaning with all that money, the blues rode the coattails of two own goals into the final). And now it appears they’re trying to transition from “Cinderella” to “legitimate force”.

Aragones signed this past weekend in a deal that has been expected for some time. Guiza, on the other hand, has been the subject of flirting for quite a few giants who easily trump Fener. After a phenomenal season which saw the Spanish bad boy finally fulfill that immense potential, the likes of Barca, Milan, Arsenal and Roma were all putting in their feelers. His price was well-known from the get go, a firm €15m release clause, so each team knew exactly what they were looking at. But even with the pesky bartering aspect out of the picture, none of them liked what they saw enough to take their interest to the marital level.

Thus Guiza signed today for a reported €17.4m (or thereabouts) after Fenerbahce did the honorable thing and negotiated a fee on top of his release clause with Mallorca to keep things unicorns and cupcakes and all that good stuff.

As nice as Turkey is, it’s not the type of place you often see very good players go while at the top of their games. So maybe Luis had a hand in convincing Dani to make the move to Istanbul - along with a certain something else which shall go unnamed. Oh, and there’s a very powerful woman behind him without question wearing at least one, if not two pairs of pants. Draw your own conclusion. (Other fans are asking the same internal questions I am right now.)

And while these two are good enough signings, likely launching Fenerbahce to another level, the ultimate coup has to be considered Emre, currently of Newcastle, whose deal is still in the balance due to the injury he suffered at the Euros, but is reportedly nearly a sure thing. Yes, Emre is perhaps Turkey’s most gifted player despite his recent run of injuries (recent being the last five years), which makes him an alluring prize in itself, but that pales in comparison to the off the pitch impact of his arrival: he’s a Galatasaray legend. Obviously some Fener fans will be disappointed by employing an ex-enemy, but if he can help them take the club above Galatsaray on the table, it’ll be that much more injury to insult. Just make sure his personal doctor isn’t a Galatasaray fan.

So with these buys, what does it mean for Fener? Are they now a legitimate contender, one to be feared? Or will they flutter back down to earth after their lucky run to the Champions League quarterfinals, despite their new flashy signings? The safe answer is somewhere in the middle, but if Guiza gets hot at the right time, Europe may rue the day they didn’t splash out that €15m for the Spanish assassin.