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Mehmet Topal

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Mehmet Topal
Personal information
Full name Mehmet Topal
Date of birth (1986-03-03) 3 March 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth Malatya, Turkey
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Fenerbahçe
Youth career
1999–2002 Malatyaspor
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2006 Dardanelspor 39 (4)
2006–2010 Galatasaray 82 (8)
2010–2012 Valencia 43 (2)
2012– Fenerbahçe 0 (0)
International career‡
2006–2007 Turkey U21 13 (1)
2008– Turkey 28 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 May 2012
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 October 2010

Mehmet Topal (born 3 March 1986 in Malatya) is a Turkish footballer who plays for Fenerbahçe in the Süper Lig. He is a defensive midfielder and has the nickname of Örümcek (Spider), due to his ability to use his long legs to win loose balls or cut out passes.[1]

Early years

Topal started his football career at Malatya when he was 3 years old. In 2002, while Topal was still playing in Malatya's youth team he transferred to Çanakkale Dardanelspor. He joined Galatasaray in September 2006 at the age of 20, having previous played for second tier club Dardanelspor for four seasons. He played sporadically in his first season with Gala, making only a handful of appearances. He has signed to Galatasaray together with Junichi Inamoto.

Club career

Galatasaray

He joined Galatasaray in September 2006 at the age of 20, having previous played for second tier club Dardanelspor for four seasons. He played sporadically in his first season with Gala, making only a handful of appearances. He has signed to Galatasaray together with Junichi Inamoto. Due to an injury to Swedish international Tobias Linderoth, Topal was handed his chance in the first team. He became first choice in the line up, due to the continued injury of his team mate. Topal was very grateful for the help the Swede gave him, saying "He helped me a lot, told me about the areas I should improve and how to do so. Sadly, I got my chance through his injury but I want him to recover in the shortest time possible."[2] In April 2008 he extended his contract with Galatasaray for five years and is due to expire in May 2013. At the end of the 2007–08 season, he won the Süper Lig title with Galatasaray and was called up to Turkey's Euro 2008 squad. In the summer 2008 transfer window, there were rumours surrounding a move to Everton in the Premier League, with David Moyes apparently keen to bring Topal to Goodison Park. However, it is believed that Galatasaray resisted the move.[3][4][5]

Valencia

Topal has spent the early part of the 2009–10 season out of action with an injury but still playing in Valencia as proud of Galatasaray. After speculation throughout the season of Topal's departure from Galatasaray, he officially signed for Valencia on 12 May 2010 for a fee believed to be in the region of €5.5M.[6] On 14 September 2010, Topal made his debut against Bursaspor in the UEFA Champions League group stage match. He scored his first goal for Valencia against Sporting Gijón on 25 September 2010.[7] On 17 February 2012, Topal scored the winner against Stoke in a UEFA Europa League first leg match. The goal, from almost 30 yards out, was widely spoken about as one of the best goals of the tournament.

Fenerbahçe

On 1 July 2012 Topal moved to Fenerbahçe. Topal signed a contract which will last for 4 years and he will receive €2 million per season, plus bonuses.[8][9][10]

International career

Shortly after making his first appearance for Turkey, Topal was selected by manager Fatih Terim for his UEFA Euro 2008 squads. In Austria and Switzerland, he played all the games but one for the eventual Semi-finalists.

Playing style

Capable of playing as a central defender, defensive midfielder or on the right side of midfield as well, Topal can use both feet, is calm under pressure and possesses a fierce shot from distance.

Honours

Career statistics

Player

As of 8 August 2012[11]
Club Season League Cup[nb 1] Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Dardanelspor 2004–05 9 1 - - - - 9 1
2005–06 30 3 1 0 - - 31 3
Total 39 4 1 0 0 0 40 4
Galatasaray
2006–07 11 0 2 0 4 0 17 0
2007–08 26 1 8 1 5 0 39 2
2008–09 21 1 5 0 6 0 32 1
2009–10 24 0 4 0 8 1 36 1
Total 82 2 18 1 23 1 124 4
Valencia
2010–11 23 1 1 0 5 0 29 1
2011–12 20 0 1 0 9 2 30 2
Total 43 1 2 0 14 2 59 3
Fenerbahçe
2012–13 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Career total 164 7 21 1 38 3 223 11

International

[12] Template:Football player national team statistics |- |2008||12||0 |- |2009||2||0 |- |2010||3||0 |- |2011||6||0 |- |2012||5||0 |- !Total||28||0 |}

Notes

  1. ^ Includes Turkish Super Cup

References

  1. ^ "Mehmet Topal Profile at Galatasaray.org". Galatasaray.org. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  2. ^ "Mehmet Topal GS TV'ye Konuştu". Galatasaray.org. 19 May 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  3. ^ "Everton line up Topal as fall-back if Sporting rebuff Moutinho bid". The Guardian. 29 August 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  4. ^ "Everton may go for Turkey star Mehmet Topal". Liverpool Echo. 10 July 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  5. ^ "Everton FC are priced out of Mehmet Topal deal". Liverpool Daily Post. 17 July 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  6. ^ "Topal se suma al Valencia de Champions". LAS PROVINCIAS. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  7. ^ "El Valencia se gusta". MARCA.com. 25 September 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  8. ^ "Topal signs four-year contract with Fenerbahçe". Hürriyet Daily News. 1 July 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  9. ^ "Mehmet Topal Fenerbahçe'de". Fenerbahçe. 1 July 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  10. ^ "Fenerbahce swoop for Valencia's Topal". ESPN. 1 July 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  11. ^ "Mehmet Topal Statistics". www.mackolik.com. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  12. ^ "Mehmet Topal Country-statistics". National Football Teams. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2012.


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