🔚 @superlig’in ilk yarısında takımlarının gol yükünü sırtlayanlar 👇🔴⚪ @HajiWright🔴⚪ @AyoubElKaabi🟡⚫ #ValonEthemi🟡🔵 @EnnerValencia14🟢⚪ #RiadBajic pic.twitter.com/5n48EgGg8a— Süper Lig (@superlig) January 16, 2023
For the big three Istanbul clubs, I would say yes. Those fans are insane. Exception would be a relegation battle in EPL, which is also nuts.
Yes. Definitely so. An Istanbul derby is like nothing else in football. Graeme Souness, who should know, regarded the Old Firm as being almost tame in comparison. That's in the stadium. Outside it, the build-up takes 10 days or even more if there's a trophy at stake and the media scrutiny of the the teams, the clubs, the players and even their families is insane
Wright is my riskiest bet for guy who will be back in 2026 from the 2022 team. And that over Sarge, Pepi, Dike, Ferreira, and Pefok. Not that I think he will be great, but I doubt our striker pool is going to have much in the way of upgrades.
Gotta figure Pefok's chances may be dwindling especially with the likelihood of Sargent and Wright boosting up while Pepi gets his opportunities to continually showing what he's got. And then there's Dike.
Possibly not. But he's played for 6 different clubs now in 5 different countries, with more downs than ups. Finally finding some stability and scoring consistency should count for something. At the same time though I know how difficult it is for players to resist the siren song of the EPL (and its salaries).
hes been consistently scoring for 3 straight seasons in denmark/turkey....this isnt a flash in the pan. time to leave Turkey and move up the ladder
Antalyaspor's president says the transfer fee for Haji is €10 million: https://www.haberturk.com/son-dakik...is-bedelini-haberturk-e-acikladi-3556955-spor
With all the clubs that are rumored to be interested they shouldn't have a problem getting that from one of them. However, Haji has to choose wisely here--he's not one-dimensional, but he's not exactly a complete striker either. Fit will be crucial. He'll be 25 in March, so this transfer will likely take him through his prime. It very well may be the most important move of his career. At his age, it should be assumed anyway. It's good news that he's got his head on straight enough to say "no!" to whichever Russian club that was that came in for him.
The Turkish press now mentioning Southampton as a suitor: https://www.fanatik.com.tr/haji-wri...nerbahce-galatasaray-derken-ters-kose-2317751
Antalyaspor is raising the price with the growing suitors. I'm thinking the transfer will be between 10-15 million dollars. At that price rather than just a gamble he'll be seen more as a guy something is expected of.
From the Turkish press today, this article claiming Antalyaspor's high asking price (€10 million) has "dragged the transfer into a dead end" in their negotiations with Galatasaray. https://www.sabah.com.tr/galeri/spo...n-tersiyle-itti-flas-teklif-istenen-bonservis
According to this piece, Fenerbahce will increase their offer for Haji one last time. If that is rejected they will move on to other striker targets. https://www.superhaber.tv/fenerbahc...t-olmazsa-iki-bomba-isim-masada-galeri-439638
I notice that Wright is missing out on his 3rd straight match today. Antalyaspor really want to cash in on him.
In terms of his (proven) ability, that's probably a fair assessment, but he's a) too expensive for all but a handful of Championship sides to afford and b) those sides will have options that are cheaper or already proven performers at Championship-or-equivalent level, or both. Remember, despite his spectacular loan performance with Barnsley, West Brom still only paid $9 million for Daryl Dike.
I hope so. There are real positives from going to Galatasaray or Fenerbache - UEFA ball every season, silverware, being a genuine superstar in a biiig city, said city being Istanbul, etc. - but the EPL is the top league and top athletes want, even need, to measure themselves against the best. There's also the possibility that success but not blowout success in Istanbul means that his career will plateau at that kind of level. And it's not as if Haji is a pawn in this debate. If he says "nope, not going to X under any circumstances but I'll take Y or Z. Otherwise, I'm going to fulfill my contract", that puts Antalya in a spot of bother. They didn't pay the transfer fee they paid with any intention other than flipping him somewhere between now and next January, latest. The three EPL sides he's been linked to are Palace, Brentford and Southhampton. If it's either of the first two, especially Brentford, he has to take that over anything else on the continent, but Southampton? They're bottom of the table, with 3 points from the last 8 games and the joint-worst attack and the joint-worst defence in the division. Better to wait until the summer
According to this piece potential buyers were put off by Antalyaspor's asking price of €10M, so it looks like Haji will stay put for the rest of the season. https://www.fotospor.com/galeriler/...aji-wright-i-timur-un-kapisina-getirdi-126687
I’m not mad at that. His place is secure and he can continue to bang in goals which could justify Antalyaspor’s asking price. If parties are interested now, they will other interested parties this summer. Haji is in a sweet spot in that he doesn’t need to move now. The summer will be more appropriate.
Turkey's transfer window is still open for another week, so theoretically he could still move to one of the Turkish clubs reportedly interested in him. On the other hand, that article above says that Galatasaray were only willing to pay 2.5 million Euros, while Antalyaspor were holding out for 10 million, and rejected offers of 6 million from abroad. So the parties might be too far apart for that to even be a possibility at this point.