Behind most prodigies is a slightly unhinged parent, and let’s be honest, it’s usually the dad. Arda Guler’s father was obsessed with Fenerbahce and as soon as his son could walk he was kicking balloons in the living room, positioned strategically on his left side because his dad wanted a left-footer.
Arda became a Fenerbahce fan too, and when he first travelled from his home in Ankara to visit the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul, he climbed the steps to see the green grass below and felt mesmerised. His mum had driven him and his sister for five hours to be there and slept in the car overnight to be at the front of the queue for tickets.
When he was 13, Guler moved to Istanbul on his own to join Fenerbahce’s academy. His youth coach, Erol Tokgozler, said he’d never seen talent like it. “The ball was like another limb, a third foot. He could do anything he set his mind to. And the best of all is that in each situation he had two, three, four or five alternatives, five different plans. The location of the field didn’t matter. He plays football with his mind.”
Guler was so good he couldn’t make friends in his new city because teammates were annoyed by his rapid rise to the youth team’s No 10 shirt and captaincy. This has been a theme of Guler’s young career, facing new challenges, taking responsibility and embracing the pressure that his talent brings.
“He’s an amazing player with special qualities,” says his Turkey teammate and close friend Ferdi Kadioglu. Kadioglu, Brighton’s player of the season, was at Fenerbahce when the teenaged Guler emerged. “He shows amazing things when he’s on the pitch with us, and for sure he will feel the pressure but that makes him also the player he is.”
There is a story from his first appearance for the Fenerbahce senior team in a friendly, aged only 15. Guler asked the experienced Brazilian Jose Sosa if he could take a free-kick and the moment was caught on the stadium’s big screen. Sosa told him where to go, but fans were impressed by the courage of a precocious boy trying to get hold of set-pieces from a senior player.
Guler doesn’t mind a scrap with opposing fans either, most notably when he took abuse from Austrian fans at Euro 2024. Turkey’s young superstar received insults throughout the game, so when he assisted Turkey’s goal, he turned to the Austrian fans and cupped his ear, a striking sight from a 19-year-old which made for one of the images of his career so far.
Guler’s progress was rapid because he was simply too good. He took over Fenerbahce’s No 10 shirt from his idol, Mesut Ozil. He made his Turkey debut aged 17, before Real Madrid approached. Carlo Ancelotti called on FaceTime from a holiday resort wearing a Hawaiian shirt and smoking a cigar, and Guler couldn’t really say no.
This season he became more integral to Madrid’s first XI under Xabi Alonso and later Alvaro Arbeloa, playing 33 Liga games including 25 starts. Only Lamine Yamal and Getafe’s Luis Milla recorded more than Guler’s nine assists in the league. He scored a brilliant free-kick against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals, in one of his best performances yet, though he couldn’t prevent Madrid’s exit.
But the highlight of his season was helping Turkey to the World Cup through the play-offs. Guler assisted Kadioglu in a semi-final win over Romania, before they beat Kosovo in the final.
“I think now the whole world knows who Arda is,” says Kadioglu. “This season he is playing regularly. He shows himself very well. He had an amazing match [against Bayern], two goals. He went [to Madrid] at a very young age. He saw how good the squad was, he had to make steps with his physicality. You see now he’s getting better and better.”
Turkey’s reliance on the play-offs might be misleading. They were in a tough qualifying group with Spain but still picked up 13 points from a possible 18. Vincenzo Montella is an astute manager and Turkey will aim to top Group D containing Australia, Paraguay and the USA. Kenan Yildiz is another brilliant 21-year-old who will play on the wing at the World Cup.
“They are top guys outside of the pitch, really normal, always respectable,” says Kadioglu of Guler and Yildiz. “When they are coming to the pitch, they show their qualities. They have really high confidence and what they do with the ball, it’s amazing … They get a bit more attention than the other players.”
But there is no doubt who bears the greatest scrutiny and responsibility. Guler’s strong character has earnt him demi-god status at home and beyond. The Turkey national team has 217k followers on Instagram; Guler has nearly 18 million. If social media is a barometer of popularity, fame or even pressure, then it says something that Guler’s Real Madrid teammate Endrick and Barcelona’s Gavi and Yamal are the only other footballers aged 21 or younger with similar followings.
Guler’s injury late in the season sent Turkey into a state of national crisis but he’s back, and he’s fit. When Turkey trained in Arizona last week ahead of the tournament, 3,000 people turned up to watch, a large swathe of whom were wearing Real Madrid shirts. There is a hysteria that follows Guler wherever he goes. But he has been treading a path to the World Cup ever since he could walk. It is another stage, his greatest yet.
