Arda’s Transfer to Real Madrid Leaves Turkish Fans Bitter-Sweet

Arda Guler, a young Turkish football star, was welcomed by press, fans and team administrators in Madrid on Friday after Spain's Real Madrid and Turkey's Fenerbahce football clubs finally agreed on the highest transfer fee - 30 million euros - ever paid for a Turkish player on Thursday.

"Many clubs wanted me, but when Real Madrid want you, it's over," Arda said in Madrid on Friday.

The President of Real Madrid, Florentio Perez, called Arda at the same press conference "The pride of Turkey,".

☀️ ¡Buenos días #Madridistas!
🇹🇷 Günaydın Türkiye ve bütün dünyada ki Madridistalar! pic.twitter.com/k3Ays7TS4j

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) July 7, 2023

Before the announcement of Arda's transfer to Real Madrid, he was on the list of many leading European football clubs, including Barcelona from Spain, Ajax from the Netherlands, and Arsenal from the UK.

However, the 18-year-old midfielder chose Real Madrid after long negotiations and other Real Madrid players' phone calls, including Croatian star Luka Modric who will leave his position to Arda after his retirement this year.

Turkish football fans and ordinary citizens have voiced pride in Arda's transfer to Europe's one of the best football clubs for the next six years.

Volodymyr Shepeliev (L) of Dynamo Kyiv and Arda Guler (R) of Fenerbahce SK during the during the UEFA Europa League group B soccer match in Krakow, Poland, 3 November 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/Lukasz Gagulski POLAND OUT

"You have made us very proud, may your path always be open, my dear brother," Ferdi Kadioglu, Arda's teammate from Fenerbahce, wrote on his Instagram account.

Fenerbahce fans voiced bittersweet feelings due to the loss of their young star.

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