Sergen Yalçın

Ali Rıza Sergen Yalçın (born 5 November 1972), known as Sergen Yalçın, is a Turkish football commentator, coach and former international midfielder.

Sergen Yalçın

Yalçın in 2021
Personal information
Full name	Ali Rıza Sergen Yalçın
Date of birth	(1972-11-05) 5 November 1972
Place of birth	Istanbul, Turkey
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1982–1991	Beşiktaş
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1997	Beşiktaş	158	(46)
1997–1999	İstanbulspor	40	(15)
1999–2002	Siirt Jet-Pa Spor	0	(0)
1999–2000	→ Fenerbahçe (loan)	24	(8)
2000	→ Galatasaray (loan)	21	(6)
2000–2001	→ Trabzonspor (loan)	21	(1)
2001–2002	→ Galatasaray (loan)	18	(7)
2002–2006	Beşiktaş	100	(30)
2006–2007	Etimesgut Şekerspor	23	(13)
2007–2008	Eskişehirspor	21	(6)
Total		426	(132)
International career
1989	Turkey U-16	2	(0)
1990	Turkey U-18	2	(0)
1992–1993	Turkey U-21	12	(5)
1994–2003	Turkey	41	(5)
Managerial career
2008–2009	Beşiktaş (U15)
2009–2010	Beşiktaş U21
2013–2014	Gaziantepspor
2014–2015	Sivasspor
2016	Gaziantepspor
2017	Kayserispor
2017	Eskişehirspor
2018	Konyaspor
2018–2019	Alanyaspor
2019–2020	Yeni Malatyaspor
2020–2021	Beşiktaş
2023–2024	Antalyaspor
Medal record Representing Turkey Men's football Mediterranean Games 1993
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Yalçın is one of nine players to play for each of the Big Three clubs of Istanbul, and one of only two players who have played for these three clubs as well as Trabzonspor along with Burak Yılmaz.

Childhood and early years

Ali Rıza Sergen Yalçın opened his eyes to the world as the first child of Günsel-Özer Yalçın couple in Kilyos town of Istanbul on November 5, 1972. Two more brothers, first Gürsoy and then Volkan, were born after him. He met football before he went to school on the beaches of Kilyos. Like Sergen, father Özer Yalçın was a footballer and he soon realized his son's interest in football and his special talent at the age of children. Taking to Beşiktaş for the auditions, Özer Yalçın entrusts the little Sergen to the palms of Serpil Hamdi Tuzun. However, Özer Yalçın, who was working at the hotel at that time, took Sergen to training. Later, little Sergen, who started secondary school, starts to go and come on his own.

Club career

"Talents like Sergen come to the Earth only once in 100 years."

—Beşiktaş's former coach English Gordon Milne, 1994.

Sergen began at Beşiktaş JK in 1991, and quickly became renowned for his skill and creativity. His first spell at the club saw him score 46 goals in 158 games – no mean feat for a midfielder. However, it was known that Sergen lacked professionalism. After a 4–1 defeat to Samsunspor, he was publicly criticised by the Beşiktaş deputy president due to his careless lifestyle. Sergen responded to the club official by insulting him.

If he doesn't leave the board, from tomorrow I will not turn out for training or for matches. Let him wear the No 10 shirt and play in the Beşiktaş midfield.

Subsequently, Beşiktaş imposed a club-record fine of over £150,000. He was later forgiven after apologising but the fine stayed. Sergen then demanded a new and improved contract which was denied by the board.

As expected, Sergen departed from the club and became Turkey's record signing when he moved to İstanbulspor for £5.5m in 1997. Thereafter, Sergen now desired a move to the European fields and began contract negotiations with Internazionale and AC Milan. Terms could not be met with the Italian giants. After struggling with his weight due to months of inaction, İstanbulspor failed to offload him, so Jet-Pa (a sports company) bought his contract and arranged a loan deal with Fenerbahçe, which involved him wearing a personalised shirt promoting the company.

Under the coaching firstly from Joachim Löw and Rıdvan Dilmen, he seemed to have buckled down to the task. But when Zdenek Zeman took over, Sergen was consistently engaged in trench warfare. Sergen publicly criticised Zeman for trying to play him on the wing, which he believed was not his best position, and was accused of faking injury to avoid training sessions. Along with many other incidents, the final straw came with the home game against Bursaspor. When he eventually came on as a substitute, Sergen missed a simple scoring chance, which many of the fans believe to have been a deliberate miss as an act of protest or just pure spite. In the late stages of the game, with the score locked at 2–2, he further infuriated the supporters by strolling across to take a corner as though he had all the time in the world. Midway through the 1999–2000 season, Sergen had his contract terminated by Fenerbahçe. Due to his terrific individual showings for the national team, Sergen attracted attention from several foreign clubs. There were speculations about a move to FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund.

Despite heavy speculation, he finished the season at arch-rivals Galatasaray SK and displayed impressive showings to help Galatasaray do the domestic double. Sergen signed for the club too late in the season to be eligible for the UEFA Cup campaign, and as Galatasaray made the trip to Leeds for the second tie of the semi-final, Sergen was instructed to report to training in Istanbul. But instead of continuing his training in Istanbul, he took a little trip of his own to Northern Cyprus. While casinos were banned on the Turkish mainland, they remained open in Northern Cyprus which attracted quite a lot of gambling trade from Turkey. It attracted Sergen for precisely that reason and he spent much of his brief stay there in a casino. When he returned to Istanbul, he told manager Fatih Terim he was tired from the journey and asked if he could skip a training session. Terim is a fearsome disciplinarian and the reaction was predictably explosive. Sergen skipped title celebrations after the Galatasaray board made it clear they would not have him back next season.

After Euro 2000, Sergen was on the verge of a transfer to Newcastle United, manager Bobby Robson being a long-time admirer. The deal fell through and he instead moved to Trabzonspor and became the first player to have represented the big four clubs in Turkey. Sergen had never yet played for a club outside Istanbul and it was believed that removing him from the distractions of the big city would do good for his appalling disciplinary record. Ironically, it was the most unsuccessful season of his career. At the season's end, Trabzonspor did not wish to extend his loan deal.

Fatih Terim gave up on him at Galatasaray. Zdenek Zeman could not work with him at Fenerbahçe. He publicly criticised former national coach Mustafa Denizli after Euro 2000. British coach Gordon Milne worked with him at Beşiktaş and he too despaired of trying to get Sergen – and his magical left foot to the training ground on time. It was thought to be the end of Sergen Yalcin, the great enfant terrible of Turkish football.

"He's a pearl, superstar of the future. But, like any rare skill, he needs to be very careful about himself."

—French Football Magazine, 1994

Ahead of the 2001–2002 season, Galatasaray manager Mircea Lucescu took a gamble and signed Sergen on loan (still from Siirt-Jet). He cast Sergen as the natural successor to Gheorghe Hagi.

This is his last chance and he is well aware of this. I wanted Sergen and I know he will truly show me who Sergen Yalçın is. His talent is obvious and now he will finally be seen on the international stage. He will be born again.

The move was rewarded as Sergen repaid his manager's faith by starring in the UEFA Champions League with 2 goals and 2 assists as Galatasaray progressed to the second group stage. Unfortunately, Sergen tore his knee ligaments and would miss the rest of the season. He was told to lose weight or never play football again. After elimination from the UEFA Champions League, Lucescu remained insistent that if Sergen had remained fit, Galatasaray would have gone on to win the tournament. Galatasaray did still go on to win the league title.

Centenary Champion Squad Beşiktaş J.K., 2003

In the 2002–2003 season, after years of wandering, Sergen returned home to Beşiktaş. Sergen was signed on a permanent deal by Lucescu, who had also moved to Beşiktaş. Under the tutelage of Lucescu, some whispered that, perhaps, the talent had been tamed. Sergen was finally maturing to fulfill some of his long-lost potential. Beşiktaş won the league, with Sergen the key instigator. The 2003–2004 season would see Beşiktaş' re-entry to the Champions League where Sergen was to feature in arguably the most memorable match of his career. Roman Abramovich became the owner of the English club, Chelsea FC, spending £112m on quality transfers. Chelsea's 'invincibles' were undefeated under the Abramovich-era ahead of the match with Beşiktaş, which was played at Stamford Bridge. With the odds stacked against them, Beşiktaş shocked the footballing world by winning 0–2, both goals courtesy of Sergen. Beşiktaş were eliminated in the group stage, but Sergen once again proved his class by scoring 2 goals and providing 3 assists in the six matches. He continued playing in Beşiktaş for another two years, becoming a fan-favourite of the club.

"Sergen was one of the most legendary football players I have ever seen. It would have been one of the icons of the world if it had played in Serie A."

—Former footballer of AC Milan and Beşiktaş Federico Giunti, 2008

"I had the chance to play with him. When you touch the ball, you realize how special it is."

—Beşiktaş's former footballer John Carew, 2005

Before the 2006–2007 season, manager Jean Tigana did not see Sergen as part of his future plans and therefore, Beşiktaş terminated his contract with immediate effect. This enraged the fans, as Sergen was their greatest symbolic icon. Upon his departure, he stated that he would always be a Beşiktaş fan. He spent that season at lowly Etimesgut Şekerspor in the TFF Second League, before moving to Eskişehirspor of the TFF First League, retiring at the end of 2007–08 as his team achieved promotion to the top flight.

"Sergen is one of the most talented footballers in the world. I will not forget how Sergen passed me at Munich Olympic Stadium. He embarrassed us with his performance."

—Former captain of Germany national team and number 10 Lothar Matthäus October 9, 1999.

When Sergen was asked why he never moved to Europe, he simply replied, "If I was 20 again, I would leave Turkey within 3 days."

Beşiktaş J.K.

Coming through the Beşiktaş Youth Infrastructure which he entered at the age of 10, he broke into the first team for which he played for 15 years. He said that Serpil Hamdi Tüzün, who watched Sergen for 15 seconds and brought him to Beşiktaş, drew 10 goal positions every day in line with his directive and applied them. He took part in the squad which was the "Undefeated Champion" in the 1991–92 1.Lig. In 1997, he transferred to Istanbulspor with a record transfer fee. Wearing the uniform of the four largest in Turkey is the first of the two players. In 2000, The Guardian newspaper said, "He has an invaluable left foot, he can even put the ball in an ashtray 60 meters away." He also stated that Newcastle United coach Bobby Robson was a fan of Sergen Yalçın. In his album "On the Bosphorus" by jazz musician Önder Focan, he was inspired by producing "Negres" (reverse Sergen).

Returned to Beşiktaş in 2002. Beşiktaş's top goal scorer of the squad which, became the champion in its 100th year. In the match played between Beşiktaş and Galatasaray in the 33rd week of the season, he scored the goal that brought the 100th year championship, and he realized the classic saying of Ercan Taner; "Sergen scored, championship came". He was selected as one of the best footballers of 100 years in 2003 as a result of the votes cast by the directors, media representatives and fans who were members of the Board of Directors, and the Board of Directors at Beşiktaş JK. In 2003 Player of the Year in Turkey has been selected. October 1, 2003 Chelsea-Besiktas in the Champions League group game Sergen Yalcin's 2 goals was one of the most important events in the history of Beşiktaş. In the 2003-04 season, with the Beşiktaş shirt, he got close to the penalty bow against Çaykur Rizespor with the ball he won from the back of the middle field and completed with a scoring goal with İlhan Mansız, he won the "Goal of the Year" award. He came to Besiktas in 2002 and left in 2006. He became one of the rare midfielder players, who exceeded 100 goals in the league. From the British press, in September 2017 These Football Times published an article entitled "Sergen Yalçın: The man who could have been the world's best." On December 9, 2021, Beşiktaş announced that Sergen Yalçın had left the team. He became the first name to become a champion in the Süper Lig as a football player and coach in Beşiktaş.

International career

"Sergen, if he lived professionally, he could do great things in European football. Bayern Munich wanted him. Beckenbauer especially."

—UEFA Vice President Şenes Erzik, 1999.

Sergen played on the Turkey national under-23 football team at the 1993 Mediterranean Games, which they won by defeating France U21s in the semifinal and Algeria U23s in the final.

Sergen made his senior debut in a friendly game against F.Y.R. Macedonia in 1994. He would represent his nation in Euro 1996 and 2000, but injury prevented him from featuring at the FIFA World Cup in 2002. Sergen scored a total of 5 goals in 37 matches for the Turkey national team.

Euro 1996

"Sergen for me Turkey 's best player. Football player who sees the game on the field and reads, bestowed gifted talents by God."

—Legendary footballer Gheorghe Hagi

Euro 1996 was Turkey's first tournament appearance since 1954. Sergen played a key role in qualification, scoring two goals. Sergen featured in two matches at the finals where they fell at the first hurdle, pointless and goalless. After the tournament, Sergen received several offers from the European shores, including the likes of West Ham United. Sergen's refusal to move was made by the fact the clubs in pursuit were not bigger than Beşiktaş.

FIFA World Cup 1998

"During my career, I have not seen such a football player. Turks must know what kind of player they have."

—Former footballer of Paris Saint-Germain Safet Sušić, 1997

Sergen was fairly inactive in the national team during this period. In the opening round of World Cup qualification, Sergen came on as a second-half substitute against Belgium. Sergen went from hero to villain in the space of five minutes by contriving to get himself sent off after initially scoring a splendid half-volley on the edge of the box. Turkey went on to lose the match 2–1 at Brussels. Manager Mustafa Denizli saw Sergen as a liability and did not select him for the next 13 months. Sergen's only other match during qualification was the 5–0 victory at San Marino, and Sergen was hugely disappointing. Turkey failed to make the finals.

Euro 2000

"Sergen Yalçın: The man who couldve been the worlds best"

—These Football Times newspaper James Kelly, 2017

To his detractors, Sergen was a luxury item in a team which could ill afford luxuries. Those who had a fondness for decrying Sergen's abilities have suggested that, when playing at the highest level, he glitters rather than shines. So when Sergen was given a second chance, many lashed out at Denizli's decision to select him. Having finally accepted that he was the linchpin of his national side, Sergen dedicated himself to banish bitter memories of his past.

"If he had never been born in Turkey, currently we have a 2nd Maradona would have is talking about."

—German sports magazine Kicker

The opening match saw Sergen give a man of the match performance in a 3–0 victory over Northern Ireland, followed by a 1–0 victory against European champions Germany, but then shamefully defeated 1–3 to Finland. The next match against Moldova, Sergen was the maestro for the Turkish side, with his spectacular dribbling runs, shots at goal and his clairvoyant passes creating scoring chances for his teammates. It was from his corner kick that Turkey opened the scoring, and four minutes into injury time when Sergen took the stage, displacing the lead-footed Moldovan defenders one by one before slotting in a cracker from the edge of the area to give Turkey a 2–0 victory. Sergen also made history because his goal was the 400th scored in the history of the Turkey national team. Prior to the next match, Turkey had never defeated Finland in any official match since 1924. Outpaced and outplayed for 15 minutes, Turkey trailed 2–0 before Sergen intervened. The man of the match was involved in three goals as Turkey turned around a two-goal deficit to defeat Finland 2–4. Turkey gained five points from their final three matches to finish group runners-up. The final game with Germany ended 0–0, but is seen as one of the greatest individual displays in the history of the Turkey national team, as Sergen "pulled all the strings", according to the German manager Erich Ribbeck. As group runners-up, Turkey faced the Republic of Ireland in a play-off tie to qualify for Euro 2000. The Irish entered the match as favorites mainly due to their influential skipper, Roy Keane. In the first leg, Ireland could only do with a 1–1 draw in Dublin. Eamonn Sweeney of the Irish Examiner wrote the match report.

"I played in many important teams, including the English Premier League teams. Even today, the best football player I have seen is Sergen. It was something completely different. His goals, technique, left foot were incredible. How did he never play in Europe? I will never understand this."

—Manchester United ex footballer Ronny Johnsen

Sergen Yalcin may play Fenerbahçe, but his midfield display was an unscheduled replacement for the top of the bill showing we’d been expecting from the Manchester United man. At times, Keane looked like someone who arrived at the podium to pick up an MTV award only to see someone else making off with it. Yalcin, without ever moving faster than a jogger, was always one step ahead, showing the ball to Keane like a matador brandishing a cape and then whisking it away as his dangerous foe arrived. The Turkish midfielder's technical brilliance, was merely one of the intriguing factors about his team's oddly diverse performance. Paradoxically, you could see how they defeated Germany, but also how Finland had upset them at home.

The second leg ended 0–0, which was enough for Turkey to qualify through the away-goals rule. In the first 20 minutes of the second half alone, Sergen set up four clear scoring chances as he produced another man of the match performance.

Turkey opened their Euro 2000 campaign with a controversial 2–1 defeat to Italy. The Guardian writer Ian Ross recalled the game.

"Nobody told me about Sergen. It is really, really difficult to find great footballers like him."

—Czech-Italian coach Zdeněk Zeman 1999.

The bizarre interpretation of the shoulder-charge ruling by the Scottish referee Hugh Dallas may have presented Italy with the penalty that pushed Turkey to defeat in their opening Group B fixture, but Sergen's contribution was immense, an intoxicating cocktail of neatly threaded through-balls and passes so visionary they might have been delivered by Mystic Meg.

It was his assist from a nicely flighted free-kick from which Turkey scored. Surprisingly, Sergen then came on as a substitute in their 0–0 draw with Sweden, and he didn't feature at all during the 2–0 victory over Belgium. In the quarter-finals, Sergen came on in the final few minutes as Turkey were defeated by Portugal. Sergen heavily criticised Denizli for not starting him in all of the matches, "He's got problems, he's not all there in the head. Don't ask me why I didn't play, ask him."

FIFA World Cup 2002

Sergen missed most of 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification due to his dismal performances at club level. His transfer to Galatasaray and performances in the UEFA Champions League allowed him back into the team and he featured in the 5–0 thrashing of Austria to qualify for the World Cup. Tragically though Sergen had injured himself prior to the tournament and did not feature.

Euro 2004

"The technical capacity at Sergen is more than enough for him to play in one of the best teams in Europe."

—Former president of UEFA Lennart Johansson.

Sergen again wasn't involved in most of the Euro 2004 qualification campaign, but due to his memorable performance against Chelsea, he was selected for the crucial final qualifying match against England. It was his final match for Turkey, which ended 0–0. Due to injury, he did not feature in the play-off ties against Latvia as Turkey were defeated.

Managerial career

He has signed a contract with Gaziantepspor for one and a half year after former manager. In 2021 Sergen returned to Besiktas as manager. He secured the Turkish Premier League title for Besiktas,completing his career first wins at the club.

Career statistics

"Sergen is one of the classy football players I really watch. I will come to Istanbul to watch."

—Chelsea Club owner Roman Abramovich, 2003

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Turkish Cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Beşiktaş	1991–92	1.Lig	15	2	2	0	1	0	18	2
	1992–93	1.Lig	23	8	5	0	1	0	29	8
	1993–94	1.Lig	20	6	3	1	4	1	27	8
	1994–95	1.Lig	27	8	2	0	3	0	32	8
	1995–96	1.Lig	24	10	3	1	2	0	29	11
	1996–97	1.Lig	29	9	5	1	4	0	38	10
İstanbulspor	1997–98	1.Lig	28	10	4	1	5	2	37	13
	1998–99	1.Lig	8	4			2	1	10	5
Fenerbahçe (loan)	1998–99	1.Lig	15	7					15	7
	1999–2000	1.Lig	9	1			2	0	11	1
Galatasaray (loan)	1999–2000	1.Lig	18	4	3	2			21	6
Trabzonspor (loan)	2000–01	1.Lig	21	1					21	1
Galatasaray (loan)	2001–02	Süper Lig	18	7			9	2	27	9
Beşiktaş	2002–03	Süper Lig	28	11	1	0	9	1	38	12
	2003–04	Süper Lig	24	8	1	0	8	2	33	10
	2004–05	Süper Lig	22	3			5	0	27	3
	2005–06	Süper Lig	18	6	6	2	5	0	29	8
Etimesgut Şekerspor	2006–07	Lig B	22	13	1	0	–		23	13
Eskişehirspor	2007–08	TFF First League	21	6			–		21	6
Total			390	124	36	8	60	9	486	141

International

Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Yalçın goal.

List of international goals scored by Sergen Yalçın

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	12 October 1994	Istanbul, Turkey	Iceland	5–0	5–0	UEFA Euro 1996 qualification
2	29 March 1995	Istanbul, Turkey	Sweden	2–1	2–1	UEFA Euro 1996 qualification
3	7 June 1995	Montreal, Canada	Canada	1–0	3–0	Friendly
4	31 August 1996	Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	1–2	1–2	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	27 March 1999	Istanbul, Turkey	Moldova	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2000 qualification

Managerial statistics

As of 24 May 2024

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Gaziantepspor	2013	2014	16	8	3	5	050.00
Sivasspor	2014	2015	39	14	12	13	035.90
Gaziantepspor	2016	2016	4	1	1	2	025.00
Kayserispor	2017	2017	17	5	5	7	029.41
Eskişehirspor	2017	2017	6	0	3	3	000.00
Konyaspor	2018	2018	10	4	3	3	040.00
Alanyaspor	2019	2019	27	9	9	9	033.33
Yeni Malatyaspor	2019	2019	24	9	8	7	037.50
Beşiktaş	2020	2021	83	46	13	24	055.42
Antalyaspor	2023	Present	23	7	7	9	030.43
Total			249	103	64	82	041.37

Honours

Player

Beşiktaş

• 1.Lig/Süper Lig: 1991–92, 1994–95, 2002–03
• Turkish Cup: 1993–94, 2005–06
• Turkish Super Cup: 1992, 1994
• Prime Minister's Cup: 1997
• TSYD Cup: 1993, 1996

Galatasaray

• 1.Lig/Süper Lig: 1999–2000, 2001–02
• Turkish Cup: 1999–2000

Turkey U-21

• Mediterranean Games: 1993

Manager

Beşiktaş

• Süper Lig: 2020–21
• Turkish Cup: 2020–21

Individual

Player

• Süper Lig top assist provider: 2000 (14 assist)
• Beşiktaş silver 11 of the century: 2003
• Milliyet Sports Awards Player of the Year in Turkey: 2003
• Eminönü Belediyesi Century Footballer award: 2003

Manager

• Coach of the team that scored 5 goals in the first half of a match in the Süper Lig in Beşiktaş history.
• He became the first name to become a champion in the Süper Lig as a football player and coach in Beşiktaş.
• Coach of the team that scored the most goals in the Süper Lig in the history of Beşiktaş. (89 goal)

External links

• Sergen Yalçın at the Turkish Football Federation
• Mackolik.com
• These Football Times - THE MAN WHO COULD’VE BEEN THE WORLD’S BEST