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In the 4th round of the Süper Lig, the Turkish professional league for association football clubs, Galatasaray beat Çaykur Rizespor 5-0 at home on Saturday to top the table with a maximum of 12 points. Roland Sallai, who joined the Istanbul club on Friday, watched the match from the stands and will play in the number 7 jersey. It is a difficult legacy to inherit, as the jersey belonged to 25-year-old Kerem Aktürkoğlu, a 40-time Turkish international, who transferred to SL Benfica after four years.
On the last day of the transfer season in Türkiye, Roland Sallai has joined Galatasaray. The Hungarian national team player signed a four-year contract, writes Magyar Nemzet. Sallai Roland’s contract with SC Freiburg was due to expire next year, thus Galatasaray bought him for a “bargain” price of EUR 6 million.
Transfermarkt puts the market value of the 27-year-old attacker at EUR 15 million, making him the third most valuable Hungarian player behind Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool, EUR 75 million) and Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth, EUR 20 million).
Galatasaray have also informed that Sallai will receive a salary of EUR 2.5 million per year. This is considerably more than his salary at SC Freiburg, where he reportedly received EUR 720,000.
Welcome to Galatasaray, Roland Sallai pic.twitter.com/qyVNhFhmpC
— Galatasaray EN (@Galatasaray) September 14, 2024
The Turkish team’s fans voiced their displeasure with Salla’s jersey number. Kerem Aktürkoğlu was a big favorite at Galatasaray, scoring 39 goals in 138 games as a left winger in the league between 2020 and 2024, but the Turkish team sold him to Benfica for EUR 12 million at the beginning of September. Aktürkoğlu wore the number 7 jersey for the Istanbul side, which will be given to Roland Sallai. He is taking on a difficult legacy as fans are already comparing him to Aktürkoglu, with many on the club’s Instagram page expressing their opinion that they would still like to see their former favorite in the number 7 jersey.
Kerem Aktürkoğlu #UCLGOTW | @Heineken pic.twitter.com/STZwrIJ6sX
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) December 1, 2023
The number 7 jersey is mandatory at Galatasaray.
On Saturday, Galatasaray won 5-0 at home to Rizespor in the fourth round of the league on Saturday, with Barış Alper Yılmaz scoring the fourth goal and the right-winger will be Roland Sallai’s biggest rival for a place in the team. The 24-year-old is a 21-time Turkish international.
Via Magyar Nemzet; Featured image via MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd