Turkish League to kick off with a starburst

The Turkish Super League kicks off with last year's runner-up, Fenerbahçe, taking on Eski?ehirspor in Istanbul, the first game of a season which will be marked by tens of millions of dollars in summer signings by both title contenders and weaker teams alike. 

Fenerbahçe has already added eight new players into its cadre, including two Manchester United world stars, Robin van Persie and Portuguese winger Nani, and is building up a new game strategy under the latter's countryman, coach Vitor Pereira. 

The transfers, often credited to new sportive Giuliano Terraneo, did not compare to last year, in which the Yellow Canaries signed only Brazilian midfielder Diego Ribas. 

Last year's Turkish league top scorer Jose Fernandao, his teammates from Bursaspor, Ozan Tufan and ?ener Özbayrakl?, Porto's Abdoulaye Ba and Fabiano Ribeiro, Sao Paulo's Josef de Souza and Lille's Simon Kjaer are the other newcomers to Fenerbahçe, who parted ways with nine players, including Dutch star Dirk Kuyt and former captain Emre Belezo?lu. 

Still, the new Fener line-up, when Senagalese striker Mousa Sow is added, is likely to give a hard time to Eski?ehirspor, which has had only one away win against Fenerbahçe in 28 games, though both teams bowed to draws in the last two league games last year. 

However, Fenerbahçe was not the only team to take advantage of a new code that allows teams to employ up to 14 foreign players. 

Galatasaray, who reinforced its club with German striker Lukas Podolski, will visit Medicana Sivasspor Aug. 15, at a good time to travel to the eastern province not famous for sunny weather. The defending champion Lions also managed to keep Uruguay international goalkeeper Fernando Muslera and van Persie's international...