As Turkey awaits the Champions League final, one of its most famous clubs is aiming to plot a course that will enable them to compete for major European honours. On Wednesday Besiktas finished the season third, 10 points behind the champions, Galatasaray, a big jump from sixth the previous year, their lowest position in more than two decades. The sporting director, Ceyhun Kazanci, is in charge of mapping the Black Eagles’ route back to the top and he is taking inspiration from the Premier League.
Last summer six players arrived from England: Nathan Redmond, Wout Weghorst, Romain Saïss, Arthur Masuaku, Cenk Tosun and, most notably, Dele Alli. Kazanci believes the Turkish league requires greater physicality and speed. “One of the missing things in Turkey was intensity on the pitch,” he says. “That is why I was focused on Premier League teams.”
Besiktas’s budget is lower than their rivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahce but it is important to Kazanci, whose background is in business, not to overpay for foreign players, something that has caused problems in the Super Lig. “My focus is to control the budget,” he says. “I try to take actions that are not popular. It is always easy to be populist, to be a hero in front of the fans because Besiktas, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, all have around 20 million fans each, so it is not easy to control them and work under the pressure coming from them.”
Redmond, Weghorst, Saïss, Tosun and Masuaku impressed but Everton’s Alli struggled to make an impact, leaving early and injured, with three goals in 15 appearances. Weghorst’s form earned him a surprising loan move to Manchester United and Redmond thrived in the final months of the season, cementing his cult status with a goal in a win at Fenerbahce. More arrivals from England can be expected this summer.
Besiktas had agreed an £8m purchase option for Alli, hoping a successful season would inflate his value and enable them to sell him on for a profit. “The expectations from the fans were really high; when you think of a player like Dele who once had a €100m valuation, then they expect a lot of goals and assists, but it is not easy because the Turkish league is difficult.
“Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it. The more he couldn’t score or contribute, the more the pressure went up, and the fans started to boo him and his reaction was not as we expected. We thought he would be more reactive to what was going on and work harder, fight for the team but he could not. The coach decided to use other players that will continue with us next season and he stopped maybe fighting for his shirt.”
Kazanci took a circuitous route to becoming sporting director at the club he supported as a boy. After working as an agent, he moved into business and ran the country’s football ticketing system before being offered his dream role. “My plan is to continue as a sporting director in one of the top five leagues,” Kazanci says. “I believe all players, coaches and sporting directors in the Super Lig would share the same ambition for the future: to play or work for a top club in the world. Besiktas is a top club in Turkey but there are some bigger competitions in the world and if, one day, I have that opportunity I would be very happy.”
Besiktas will play in the Europa Conference League next season. Turkey’s biggest clubs, despite huge fanbases and the ability to attract players, have rarely been a significant force in European competitions. Since Galatasaray won the Uefa Cup in 2000 only Fenerbahce have reached a semi-final – of the 2012-13 Europa League – although Galatasaray have made it to two Champions League quarter-finals, in 2001 and 2013. Turkey did not have a team in the Champions League group stage this season after Trabzonspor lost in the playoffs. Kazanci says: “The atmosphere in stadiums is incredible, it is really difficult to play against Turkish clubs, especially in Turkey, in European competitions. Why not use this advantage?”
The Champions League returns to Istanbul on Saturday when Manchester City face Internazionale at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium. In 2017-18 Besiktas earned 14 points under Senol Gunes, who is back in charge, in a Champions League group with Porto, Leipzig and Monaco, an indication of their potential should they return to Europe’s top table.
“I don’t think it is so difficult for a Turkish team to win a European cup again,” Kazanci says. “One of the biggest problems in Turkish football is the planning and organisation because we always sign the foreign players towards the end of the transfer window. All the qualification rounds are played in July and early August. According to next season’s schedule, we will play nine games in August in the league and Europe, so we definitely need to be prepared by signing the players early.”
Besiktas have their sights on Super Lig success too. “Next season our only aim is to win the title again,” Kazanci says. “Besiktas should be in the Champions League every season. I believe our fans deserve it. Hopefully next season we can win the title and the following season, we can be back in the Champions League.” Saturday’s final will remind him what Besiktas have been missing.
