Perhaps one of the least talked about football competitions out, and the Turkish Süper Lig is admittedly one of the most exciting to watch. Even though it doesn’t yet draw the same numbers as the English Premier League (EPL), this domestic competition is truly onto something.
Of course, there are still some challenges to address. For instance, this top-tier football division posted very poor results due to the Turkish lira, the national currency, taking a very sharp decline in 2018. This occasioned a financial loss that reached $291 million, which is quite steep for any major competitive outfit.
One of the main problems has been identified the high upkeep costs. Turkish FC doesn’t spare a pretty penny when it comes to taking care of their players, brand and fans. However, this approach has been particularly financially unfeasible in light of the latest challenges surrounding the national currency.
Wagers in Turkish clubs also went up, as to meet up with the skill and efforts put in by footballers who have been quickly accumulating a special status within the country.
Turkish Football Continues to Attract More Interest
Players have been stirring a lot of interest. For example, Manchester United scouts flew down to Istanbul to watch Fenerbahce’s game versus Alanyaspor and particularly, to watch and observe the striker – Vedat Muriqi.
Sources say that Muriqi could be fetching a solid prize tag worth over $32 million, which is definitely a significant amount of money to spend on any footballer. Muriqi has a lot to offer to any team.
In the meantime, though, it has not been just Turkish players going to play abroad. Lukas Podolski, a former Arsenal forward, has also travelled to the country to join Antalyaspor. Turkey is still on a crossroad when it comes to its football, but it has grown to a world-class stature in the past few years.
The nationals have taken on both France and England. Turkey defeated France 2-0 in 2019 and then drew against the Frenchmen two months later with 1-1. They did lose to England, but that was way back in 2016.
Even though you won’t media talk much about the level of football in the country, the country has done an exceptional job of training the next generation of promising footballers.
Better Football Means More Revenue
While Turkey indeed spends a lot on its football upkeep, the results look promising. More media coverage about the Turkish league is generated around the flagship players. The fact that Turkey can take on many western national teams is also quite impressive, prompting some of the best clubs in the Bundesliga, La Liga and the English Premier League to take a look at the current rooster of Turkish football teams.
Admittedly, there is still a rift when it comes to the two worlds of western and eastern football, but out of the east, Turkey is indeed the country that produces the highest churn of exceptional strikes.
There have been a few scandals surrounding Turkey’s football performances abroad, specifically about manifestations supporting the country’s military operations, but that is still not enough to draw attention away from the main point – which is that Turkish footballers are world-class. They can achieve anything they set out ahead of themselves.