Have you guys ever taken out one weekend to watch games from the Turkish Süper Lig? If you haven’t, you should one of these days; you’ll see that the quality there is actually pretty crazy. You’ll see ballers who will make you ask yourself why they are in that league. And we don’t even mean any disrespect to the Turkish league here.
We love and enjoy the Süper Lig, but according to the official UEFA coefficients, it is not one of the top 7 leagues in Europe, ranking below the likes of the Czech and Belgian leagues. But some of the players doing their thing in Türkiye actually should be in one of the top 5 European leagues. Who are some of those guys? Let’s see them.
These are 7 players who are too good for the Turkish league.
victor osimhen
We’ll start with the most obvious one, Victor Osimhen. To be fair, he really should not even be in Türkiye right now. He was on top of the world with Napoli, helping them win their first Scudetto in over 30 years, being named CAF Men’s Player of the Year, and finishing in the top 10 of the Ballon d’Or.
But then Antonio Conte came in and he instantly became an outcast at Napoli. He was linked to PSG and was even close to joining Chelsea if they could come to a resolution on his wages. Eventually, Osimhen found himself still at Napoli after the transfer window had closed, forcing him to settle for a loan move to Galatasaray, as Türkiye was one of only a few leagues whose transfer window was still open at the time.
Anyway, as expected, Osimhen has gone there and started to tear the league apart. He has 12 goal contributions in 11 Süper Lig appearances and is actively in a Golden Boot race as a loan player with less games than his competitors. He also has 5 goal contributions in 4 Europa League appearances.
At 25, Osimhen is still at his prime and will walk into almost any team in the world. He should be playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world and should be a regular in the Champions League. But he is not even the only former Serie A striker who is too good for the Turkish league.
Can you guess who the other guy is? Take a shot at it in the comments, we’ll see if you’re right soon.
Dominic Livaković
But first, let’s talk about Dominic Livaković. You remember him from the 2022 World Cup, don’t you? He was named Man of the Match in two different games after saving 4 penalties in two different shootouts.
In the quarterfinal game against Brazil, he made 11 saves and then made an extra one during the shootout, earning him the Man of the Match award. He also became only the 15th player in football history to earn a perfect 10 rating from L’Équipe.
Do we even need to say more? A goalkeeper still in his 20s with a CV like that should really be playing in one of Europe’s top 5 leagues, that’s for sure.
Baris Alper Yilmaz
Another player who belongs on this list is Baris Alper Yilmaz. He is one of the highest scoring wingers in the Süper Lig, a very good dribbler, and he is still very young. If young Turkish players like Güler and Yildiz can be playing for big clubs, surely Yilmaz can, as well. As we said, Yilmaz is a good dribbler, but the very best in the league is – unsurprisingly – Allan Saint-Maximin.
And not only is he the best dribbler in the Süper Lig, he is still one of the best in Europe. At one point, he was single handedly keeping Newcastle competitive in the premier league. And remember, he is just 27 years old. He can surely still be playing in a top league in Europe with the level he’s showing in Turkey.
Krzysztof Piatek
Now, the other former Serie A striker we were referring to earlier is Krzysztof Piatek. He played for Milan, Fiorentina, and a couple other clubs in Italy, but in 2023, he moved to Türkiye to join Istanbul Basaksehir. Yes, he might not be Haaland or Lewandowski level, but he surely is good enough to play for certain clubs in the Premier League, La Liga, and the Bundesliga.
I mean, you can put this guy up front for Arsenal and United and he’d do a good job. He’d also be a great back up striker for clubs like Man City or Barcelona. Right now, he’s leading the Süper Lig Golden Boot race despite his team sitting in 7th place.
He has been directly involved in about 50% of the goals Basaksehir have scored in the league this season. Let’s be honest, he’s too good to be playing in Türkiye.
Turk Yunus Akgün
Up next is another young Turk Yunus Akgün. We think the 24-year-old has what it takes to be playing in a top league in Europe. He is tearing the league apart in his first full season at the top level with 11 goal contributions in 16 appearances in the Süper Lig.
He also has 5 goals in 6 Europa League appearances, which puts him in the top 3 for most assists in the Süper Lig and top 3 for most goals in the Europa League this season.
Dries Mertens
Finally, there’s Dries Mertens. Yes, his age doesn’t do him a lot of favors, but with the level at which he’s playing, he could still be playing in one of the top 5 leagues. You know, like Pedro still doing his thing in Italy at 37.
Mertens has 11 goal contributions in 16 appearances, and he is the second top assist provider in the Süper Lig. And it’s not just a matter of the quality of the league, he is also the top assist provider in the Europa League, which means that he can still perform at the required level. Mertens could certainly still be balling in the Serie A right now.
He is that good! Are there more players you think are too good for the Turkish Süper Lig? Tell us in the comments.
Read more – Click here
join – WhatsApp channel