Mehmet Topal

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Mehmet Topal
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Topal in 2013
Personal information
Full name Mehmet Topal
Date of birth (1986-03-03) 3 March 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth Malatya, Turkey
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Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Fenerbahçe
Number 5
Youth career
1999–2002 Malatyaspor
2002–2004 Dardanelspor
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2006 Dardanelspor 42 (4)
2006–2010 Galatasaray 82 (2)
2010–2012 Valencia 43 (1)
2012– Fenerbahçe 102 (8)
International career‡
2006–2007 Turkey U21 13 (1)
2008– Turkey 54 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:00, 15 December 2015 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 00:00, 18 November 2015 (UTC)

Mehmet Topal (born 3 March 1986) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays for Fenerbahçe SK as a defensive midfielder.

Club career

Early years

Born in Malatya, Topal started his football career at local Malatya B.S. at the age of 13. He made his senior debuts with lowly Dardanel Spor A.Ş. in the third division.

In September 2006 Topal joined Süper Lig powerhouse Galatasaray SK, moving to the club alongside Japanese Junichi Inamoto.

Galatasaray

Topal appeared in only 11 games in his first season in Istanbul. However, due to an injury to Swedish international Tobias Linderoth, he was handed his chance in the starting XI, later commenting on his teammate: "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."[1]

In April 2008 Topal extended his contract with Gala for five years, having played 26 matches during the campaign to help the team win the national championship, and reaching the Turkish national team during the campaign. In the 2008 summer transfer window, there were rumours surrounding a move to Everton in the Premier League, with David Moyes apparently keen to bring the player to Goodison Park.[2][3][4]

Topal eventually stayed put, appearing in an average of 22 games in the following seasons but also having to deal with injury early into 2009–10.

Valencia

Topal signed for Valencia CF on 12 May 2010, for a fee believed to be in the region of €5.5 million.[5] On 14 September he made he first UEFA Champions League appearance with his new club, playing the full 90 minutes against Turkish side Bursaspor in a 4–0 group stage win.[6]

Topal scored his first goal with the Che at Sporting de Gijón on 25 September 2010 (2–0).[7] On 17 February 2012, he netted the game's only goal away against Stoke City for the season's UEFA Europa League round-of-32 (2–0 on aggregate): the 30-yard strike was widely regarded as one of the best goals of that tournament;[8] he contributed with six games to help his team reach the semifinals of the latter competition, but overall played second-fiddle to legendary David Albelda during his stint.

Fenerbahçe

On 1 July 2012, Topal moved to Fenerbahçe SK for a reported fee of €4.5 million. He signed a four-year contract with a €2 million annually salary, plus bonuses.[9][10][11] He contributed with 27 games and three goals in his second season, as the club won the national championship after a three-year wait.

On 11 August 2015, whilst he drove home after training accompanied by youth player Uygar Mert, Topal's car was shot at by unknown men.[12][13]

International career

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

Personal life

Topal was nicknamed Örümcek (Spider), due to his ability to use his long legs to win loose balls or cut passes.[14]

Statistics

Club

As of 30 November 2015[15][16]
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 19 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 27 3 8 1 16 0 51 4
2013–14 27 3 1 0 3 0 31 3
2014–15 33 2 8 2 0 0 41 4
2015–16 13 0 0 0 8 0 21 0
Total 100 8 17 2 27 0 144 10
Career total 247 14 32 2 64 3 343 19

International

As of 17 November 2015[17]
Turkey
Year Apps Goals
2008 11 0
2009 2 0
2010 3 0
2011 6 0
2012 10 0
2013 8 0
2014 6 0
2015 8 0
Total 54 0

Honours

Galatasaray
Fenerbahçe

Notes

  1. ↑ Includes Turkish Super Cup

References

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External links

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