Basaksehir U20

10 May 2029
Thursday
Process
145 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

7 May 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

81 days out for Olivier Kemen after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Basaksehir will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

The dugout

Haris Hajradinović says Basaksehir went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ianis Hagi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Emirhan Topçu named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Emirhan Topçu is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

The dugout

Festy Ebosele gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Festy Ebosele is on it.

The dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Kamil Fidan's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

Market

The Abbosbek Fayzullayev story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abbosbek Fayzullayev signs something — a contract at Basaksehir or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout

Kamil Fidan asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

Back issues
144 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

30 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Olivier Kemen out for 92 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Basaksehir will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Abbosbek Fayzullayev

26 goals and a season average of 7.61 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

A hiding for Basaksehir

Beaten 0‑3 by Konyaspor, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Market

Lenny Montfort asks to leave Basaksehir

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Adrian Benedyczak in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Doğan Alemdar

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Basaksehir

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Burak Yazici to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

When it matters, Abbosbek Fayzullayev plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

143 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

23 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Olivier Kemen breaks a bone — 100 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Basaksehir tear Giresunspor apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 7‑1 against Giresunspor, and it could have been more.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Adrian Benedyczak

25 goals and a season average of 7.68 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

A brace, and Abbosbek Fayzullayev takes the afternoon — 8.57

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abbosbek Fayzullayev provided it, and the 8.57 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

A day Adrian Benedyczak will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Match

Basaksehir up to position 3

78 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Festy Ebosele

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Adrian Benedyczak among the goals in a wild afternoon

8 goals in one match, Adrian Benedyczak on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Basaksehir and Giresunspor.

In brief

142 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

16 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Adrian Benedyczak is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.63 with 22 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

Both of them Ivan Brnić's — 7.96

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 7.96, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Match

Adana Demirspor take the points off Basaksehir

Beaten 4‑5, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Match

Ivan Brnić among the goals in a wild afternoon

9 goals in one match, Ivan Brnić on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Basaksehir and Adana Demirspor.

Squad

Ianis Hagi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

One of those days for Ianis Hagi

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

Burak Yazici: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 4‑5, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

Squad

A day to forget for Doğan Alemdar

Beaten 5 times, 3 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.

In brief

141 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

9 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Abbosbek Fayzullayev

24 goals and a season average of 7.61 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Getting past Doğan Alemdar has become the hardest job in the division

13 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.

Player ratings

Festy Ebosele was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Match

Basaksehir see off Fatih Karagumruk

Three points for Basaksehir, 1‑0 the final word against Fatih Karagumruk in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Abbosbek Fayzullayev at his very best

Marked 8.39. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Basaksehir.

Market

Okay Yokuşlu told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Okay Yokuşlu has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Basaksehir.

The dugout

No hiding place for Haris Hajradinović

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Haris Hajradinović, and the manager let it.

The dugout

When it matters, Enis Destan plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

140 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

2 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Enis Destan and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Market

Ianis Hagi wants more than Basaksehir are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Squad

Ianis Hagi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

Ianis Hagi gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market

No place for Ivan Brnić in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ivan Brnić has his answer from Basaksehir; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

Squad

Basaksehir are still strangers to each other

5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Abbosbek Fayzullayev is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

The dugout

Festy Ebosele gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Festy Ebosele is on it.

Market

Abbosbek Fayzullayev linked with a move away

The name of Abbosbek Fayzullayev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Basaksehir say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

139 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

26 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

12 saves: Lenny Montfort was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Match

A chastening European night for Basaksehir

1‑4 against Braga. The honest reading is not that the players were poor; it is that the distance between this club and that one is currently measured in things money takes years to buy.

Player ratings

Festy Ebosele beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 30. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

Basaksehir refuse to drop out of the race

Position 3, 72 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Enis Destan

19 goals and a season average of 7.45 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Christopher Opéri in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ianis Hagi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

A bad afternoon for Basaksehir against Besiktas

0‑1 to Besiktas, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Boardroom

Inquest at Basaksehir

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

In brief

138 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

19 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Abbosbek Fayzullayev

23 goals and a season average of 7.60 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Doğan Alemdar

There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

The dugout

Batuhan Çelik: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Basaksehir have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Getting past Doğan Alemdar has become the hardest job in the division

12 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.41. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Looking ahead

The big one: Besiktas come into view

Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Basaksehir will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Bertuğ Yıldırım

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Adrian Benedyczak gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Adrian Benedyczak is on it.

In brief

137 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

12 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Basaksehir tear Kayserispor apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 6‑1 against Kayserispor, and it could have been more.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Adrian Benedyczak

22 goals and a season average of 7.67 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

A brace, and Adrian Benedyczak takes the afternoon — 9.80

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Adrian Benedyczak provided it, and the 9.80 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

3 goals for Abbosbek Fayzullayev

The match ball belongs to Abbosbek Fayzullayev, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Abbosbek Fayzullayev among the goals in a wild afternoon

7 goals in one match, Abbosbek Fayzullayev on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Basaksehir and Kayserispor.

Match

The run at home goes on for Basaksehir

9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.62. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ianis Hagi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

136 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

5 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Cruel end for Gaziantep as Basaksehir pounce

There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Basaksehir scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.

Player ratings

Both of them Adrian Benedyczak's — 9.41

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.41, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Match

A European lesson for Basaksehir

0‑1 against Braga. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Adrian Benedyczak

20 goals and a season average of 7.61 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Festy Ebosele

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Christopher Opéri signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Christopher Opéri and Basaksehir agree another 4 years.

Squad

Adrian Benedyczak in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Adrian Benedyczak the difference as Basaksehir beat Gaziantep

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Adrian Benedyczak. 3‑1 against Gaziantep, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Enis Destan was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.71. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

In brief

135 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

26 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Basaksehir run riot against Ankaragucu

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Both of them Adrian Benedyczak's — 9.60

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.60, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Match

Basaksehir refuse to drop out of the race

Position 3, 65 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Adrian Benedyczak

18 goals and a season average of 7.56 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

Basaksehir make it 4 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Basaksehir have 4 straight wins of it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Festy Ebosele

Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Jakub Kałuziński at his very best

Marked 8.05. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Basaksehir.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Abbosbek Fayzullayev at his very best

Marked 8.02. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Basaksehir.

In brief

134 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

19 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Festy Ebosele was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 37. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.54 with 19 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

Basaksehir cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Match

Basaksehir see off Kasimpasa

Three points for Basaksehir, 2‑0 the final word against Kasimpasa in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

Ianis Hagi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

The run at home goes on for Basaksehir

8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev in the eights

A performance of 8.44 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Enis Destan at his very best

Marked 8.09. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Basaksehir.

In brief

  • The dugout A promise honoured at Basaksehir
  • The dugout Festy Ebosele gets picked when it counts
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
133 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

12 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Basaksehir tear Sivasspor apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Sivasspor, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

Enis Destan scores twice — 9.47

Two goals and a mark of 9.47 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Adrian Benedyczak

16 goals and a season average of 7.51 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

The dugout

Berat Özdemir keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Basaksehir may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Player ratings

Festy Ebosele was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Player ratings

One of those days for Adrian Benedyczak

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.71, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Ianis Hagi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Christopher Opéri at his very best

Marked 8.33. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Basaksehir.

In brief

132 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

5 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Basaksehir run riot against Umraniyespor

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Both of them Adrian Benedyczak's — 9.22

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.22, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

Adrian Benedyczak is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.48 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Boardroom

Basaksehir close the window on a squad of their own making

4 in and 6 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.

Player ratings

Festy Ebosele beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Transfer targets

Andile Mokotjo turns down Basaksehir

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Gaziantep keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Transfer targets

Basaksehir rebuffed over Fousseni Diabaté

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kasimpasa have kept their man, and Basaksehir go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Enis Destan at his very best

Marked 8.46. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Basaksehir.

In brief

131 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

29 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Basaksehir refuse to drop out of the race

Position 3, 53 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Market

Basaksehir sell Emin Bayram for $9.4M

Emin Bayram has left for Fenerbahce in a $9.4M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Transfer targets

Basaksehir rebuffed over Milot Rashica

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Besiktas have kept their man, and Basaksehir go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.50 with 18 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Christopher Opéri in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Ianis Hagi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Abbosbek Fayzullayev at his very best

Marked 8.16. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Basaksehir.

The dugout

Ianis Hagi gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

Güven Yalçın runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

130 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

22 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Davie Selke damages knee ligaments — 15 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 15 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Franculino

Basaksehir asked and Besiktas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Basaksehir say no — this time

The offer from Fenerbahce for Olivier Kemen was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Player ratings

Both of them Enis Destan's — 9.02

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.02, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Davie Selke asks to leave Basaksehir

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Enis Destan

14 goals and a season average of 7.32 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

The terraces

One of their own: Mehmet Turuc

He is 17 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

In brief

129 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

15 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Davie Selke damages knee ligaments — 22 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 22 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

Basaksehir say no — this time

The offer from Galatasaray for Enis Destan was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market

Basaksehir sign Kamil Fidan for $2.0M

The paperwork is done: Kamil Fidan joins from Sivasspor in a deal worth $2.0M. Now comes the harder part.

Market

Moussa Diarra asks to leave Basaksehir

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Eyes on Emin Bayram again

The phone has started ringing about Emin Bayram again, and this time the name on the line is Fenerbahce. Basaksehir are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

Adrian Benedyczak is carrying Basaksehir

13 goals and a season average of 7.44. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Both jobs done by Jakub Kałuziński — 7.01

A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 16 actions, 7.01, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.

Match

Fenerbahce take the points off Basaksehir

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

In brief

128 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

8 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

The knee: Davie Selke out for 31 days

31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Basaksehir lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

Basaksehir tear Istanbulspor apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Istanbulspor, and it could have been more.

Market

Basaksehir say no — this time

The offer from Galatasaray for Abbosbek Fayzullayev was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Transfer targets

Kamil Fidan due for a Basaksehir medical

Everything agreed with Sivasspor, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Abbosbek Fayzullayev

17 goals and a season average of 7.49 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Market

Fabricio Acosta puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Basaksehir, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

Mehmet Turuc keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Basaksehir may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Transfer targets

Sivasspor tell Basaksehir: Kamil Fidan is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad

Adrian Benedyczak in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

127 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

1 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Doğan Alemdar stands alone

12 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Squad

Davie Selke damages knee ligaments — 40 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 40 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

Basaksehir refuse to drop out of the race

Position 3, 46 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Market

Arda Kızıldağ puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Basaksehir, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev honoured for the season

The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Basaksehir had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

A bad afternoon for Basaksehir against Trabzonspor

0‑1 to Trabzonspor, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Match

After 5 games, Basaksehir finally taste it again

The first defeat in 5 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Trabzonspor; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.

In brief

126 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

25 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Davie Selke

48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Basaksehir lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

No mercy from Basaksehir

Hatayspor will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Basaksehir were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad

3 goals for Enis Destan

The match ball belongs to Enis Destan, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Match

Nobody wants to play Basaksehir right now

5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev is carrying Basaksehir

16 goals and a season average of 7.46. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Basaksehir and Hatayspor in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Player ratings

Enis Destan was on a different afternoon to everybody else

9.83. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Adrian Benedyczak

Marked 8.67 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

125 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

18 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Basaksehir take Molde apart in Europe

3‑0. Nights like this are why clubs spend decades trying to qualify for this competition, and they arrive perhaps twice in that time. Everybody who was in the ground will describe it badly for years.

Squad

Davie Selke damages knee ligaments — 56 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 56 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ianis Hagi

Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Adrian Benedyczak scores twice — 8.44

Two goals and a mark of 8.44 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

A brace, and Abbosbek Fayzullayev takes the afternoon — 8.40

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abbosbek Fayzullayev provided it, and the 8.40 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

The dugout

Arda Kızıldağ says Basaksehir went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Match

Basaksehir cannot stop winning

4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Abbosbek Fayzullayev

15 goals and a season average of 7.42 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

In brief

124 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

11 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Davie Selke

63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Basaksehir lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Player ratings

A brace, and Adrian Benedyczak takes the afternoon — 9.77

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Adrian Benedyczak provided it, and the 9.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

The dugout

Aleksandar Pešić keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Basaksehir may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

6 goals as Basaksehir and Giresunspor go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Basaksehir and Giresunspor, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Match

Adrian Benedyczak the difference as Basaksehir beat Giresunspor

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Adrian Benedyczak. 4‑2 against Giresunspor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Adrian Benedyczak

11 goals and a season average of 7.37 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

One of those days for Enis Destan

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.99, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

Doğan Alemdar gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

123 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

4 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Davie Selke damages knee ligaments — 71 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 71 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

Abbosbek Fayzullayev leads the rout of Adana Demirspor

3‑0, and Abbosbek Fayzullayev took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Basaksehir tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Match

Basaksehir come up short in Europe

0‑2 away to the standard of Twente. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.

Player ratings

A brace, and Abbosbek Fayzullayev takes the afternoon — 8.43

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abbosbek Fayzullayev provided it, and the 8.43 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

Basaksehir are in among the leaders

Position 3 and 37 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

The dugout

Umut Güneş says Basaksehir went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Abbosbek Fayzullayev

13 goals and a season average of 7.38 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ümit Akdağ was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

122 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

27 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Davie Selke out for 79 days

79 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Basaksehir lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

Basaksehir win it in stoppage time

The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 90th minute. Fatih Karagumruk will replay every second of the added time for a week.

The dugout

Bertuğ Yıldırım: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Basaksehir have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev is carrying Basaksehir

11 goals and a season average of 7.34. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Basaksehir get the job done against Fatih Karagumruk

A 2‑1 win over Fatih Karagumruk, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Ianis Hagi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.12. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Player ratings

Olivier Kemen in the eights

A performance of 8.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

121 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

20 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Davie Selke damages knee ligaments — 88 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 88 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

The cup run ends for Basaksehir

0‑1 against Gaziantep, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Player ratings

Moussa Diarra runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

No end in sight to Basaksehir's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Basaksehir has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Ianis Hagi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Bertuğ Yıldırım

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Basaksehir dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

The dugout

Burak Yazici faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Burak Yazici after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

In brief

120 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

13 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Davie Selke out for 96 days

96 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Basaksehir lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

A European night to remember for Basaksehir

1‑1 against St. Gallen, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.

Squad

7 saves: Doğan Alemdar was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Besiktas end the Basaksehir run at 10

Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 10 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.

Squad

Adrian Benedyczak in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev is carrying Basaksehir

10 goals and a season average of 7.31. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Basaksehir come up short against Besiktas

Besiktas left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Adrian Benedyczak

Marked 8.15 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

119 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

6 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Davie Selke damages knee ligaments — 104 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 104 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

Basaksehir are in among the leaders

Position 2 and 31 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Match

Whatever happens, Basaksehir do not lose

9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Match

Basaksehir make home a hard place to visit

11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.

Squad

Christopher Opéri in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Ianis Hagi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Looking ahead

Top-of-the-table clash for Basaksehir

Besiktas next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.

Squad

Bertuğ Yıldırım slips down the pecking order

The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Bertuğ Yıldırım is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.

The dugout

Basaksehir keep their word to Abbosbek Fayzullayev

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

In brief

118 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

30 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Davie Selke

112 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Basaksehir lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Basaksehir do the business in Europe

1‑0. Continental football is where a club finds out what it actually is, and Basaksehir came through the finding-out well against St. Gallen.

Match

Nobody above Basaksehir

First, on 30 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.

The dugout

Ekrem Stancic: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Basaksehir have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

8 unbeaten for Basaksehir

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Basaksehir did not have in the autumn.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Nobody wins at Basaksehir

10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Match

Basaksehir get the job done against Kayserispor

A 2‑0 win over Kayserispor, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Match

Another one collected away from home

3 on the bounce on the road for Basaksehir. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.

In brief

117 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

23 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Davie Selke

119 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Basaksehir lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

A 3-goal lead gone for Basaksehir

It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Gaziantep kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Basaksehir will be asked about the last half hour all week.

Player ratings

Adrian Benedyczak scores twice — 9.41

Two goals and a mark of 9.41 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

The dugout

Davie Selke keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Basaksehir may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Goal number 100 for Adrian Benedyczak

100 goals in these colours now, every one of them somebody’s memory. There is a supporter in the stand who can tell you where he was for most of them.

Match

Whatever happens, Basaksehir do not lose

6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Match

The run at home goes on for Basaksehir

9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Player ratings

Güven Yalçın runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

116 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

16 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

No mercy from Basaksehir

Ankaragucu will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Basaksehir were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Match

Basaksehir cannot stop winning

4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Adrian Benedyczak in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Olivier Kemen

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev is carrying Basaksehir

10 goals and a season average of 7.30. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Ianis Hagi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

The run at home goes on for Basaksehir

8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Player ratings

One of those days for Abbosbek Fayzullayev

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.44, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Ianis Hagi in the eights

A performance of 8.24 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

115 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

9 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Abbosbek Fayzullayev lights up a European night for Basaksehir

2‑1 against Molde, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Abbosbek Fayzullayev was at the centre of the description.

Player ratings

A brace, and Güven Yalçın takes the afternoon — 8.83

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Güven Yalçın provided it, and the 8.83 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Ivan Brnić was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Match

Basaksehir make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Basaksehir have 3 straight wins of it.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

news_h_reunited_with_his_manager

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Match

Güven Yalçın sends Basaksehir past Kasimpasa

It finished 2‑1, and it was Güven Yalçın’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Basaksehir.

The dugout

Bertuğ Yıldırım gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ianis Hagi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

114 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

2 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Basaksehir run riot against Sivasspor

4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev scores twice — 8.49

Two goals and a mark of 8.49 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Market

Mehmet Feyzi Yıldırım hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Basaksehir can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Bertuğ Yıldırım wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Basaksehir hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Güven Yalçın

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

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Player ratings

Adrian Benedyczak was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.98. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Bertuğ Yıldırım

Marked 8.47 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

113 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

25 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Basaksehir beaten on the continent

1‑2 against Twente, and an evening that measured the gap rather than the ninety minutes. Nothing about it was a disgrace and nothing about it was close.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Enis Destan runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ianis Hagi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev in the eights

A performance of 8.32 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Match

Basaksehir rescue it on 85 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 85. Umraniyespor had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

The dugout

No place for Ianis Hagi on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Basaksehir pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

Match

Honours even between Basaksehir and Umraniyespor

2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

Squad

A smaller club would suit Doğan Alemdar now

He has had enough of the noise. Whether Basaksehir can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.

In brief

112 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

18 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Basaksehir run riot against Alanyaspor

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Basaksehir

The unbeaten run reaches 11. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

Doğan Alemdar signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Doğan Alemdar and Basaksehir agree another 4 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

No hiding place for Adrian Benedyczak

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adrian Benedyczak, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Adrian Benedyczak at his very best

Marked 8.60. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Basaksehir.

Squad

Ianis Hagi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Abbosbek Fayzullayev

Marked 8.44 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Enis Destan

Marked 8.05 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

111 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

11 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Triumph

The dugout

Adrian Benedyczak keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Basaksehir may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ianis Hagi

Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

10 unbeaten for Basaksehir

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation Basaksehir did not have in the autumn.

Squad

6 saves: Ekrem Stancic was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Match

Basaksehir are at home on the road

5 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.

Squad

Enis Destan signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Enis Destan and Basaksehir agree another 5 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Basaksehir get the job done against Antalyaspor

A 2‑1 win over Antalyaspor, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Ümit Akdağ falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

110 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

4 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A brace, and Abbosbek Fayzullayev takes the afternoon — 8.38

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abbosbek Fayzullayev provided it, and the 8.38 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Doğan Alemdar stands alone

6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Basaksehir

The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Boardroom

Basaksehir close the window on a squad of their own making

21 in and 16 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.

Squad

Christopher Opéri in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Fenerbahce end the Basaksehir run at 7

Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 7 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.

Market

Basaksehir sell Onur Ergün for $99.0K

Onur Ergün has left for Ankaragucu in a $99.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Enis Destan

Marked 8.84 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

The dugout

Doğan Alemdar gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

109 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

28 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

No mercy from Basaksehir

Istanbulspor will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Basaksehir were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Match

Nobody wants to play Basaksehir right now

7 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Player ratings

A brace, and Adrian Benedyczak takes the afternoon — 8.91

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Adrian Benedyczak provided it, and the 8.91 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Salih Uçan breaks a bone — 15 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

The dugout

Ümit Akdağ: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Basaksehir have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Adrian Benedyczak in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Another one collected away from home

4 on the bounce on the road for Basaksehir. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.

Squad

A late step up for Emin Bayram

At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

The dugout

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In brief

  • Squad Ianis Hagi falls out with a teammate over standards
  • Player ratings Ninety minutes of Ianis Hagi at his very best
  • Player ratings Abbosbek Fayzullayev was on a different afternoon to everybody else
108 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

21 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

A fracture rules Salih Uçan out for 26 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Basaksehir will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Nobody wants to play Basaksehir right now

6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Batuhan Çelik is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Festy Ebosele has improved at 26, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

The dugout

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The terraces

The crowd has taken to Tugra Turhan

At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Match

Abbosbek Fayzullayev the difference as Basaksehir beat Trabzonspor

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abbosbek Fayzullayev. 2‑0 against Trabzonspor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Emin Bayram

Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

In brief

107 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

14 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Adrian Benedyczak leads the rout of Hatayspor

3‑0, and Adrian Benedyczak took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Basaksehir tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

Both of them Adrian Benedyczak's — 9.47

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.47, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

A fracture rules Salih Uçan out for 35 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Basaksehir will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Basaksehir make it 5 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Basaksehir have 5 straight wins of it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Real improvement from Tugra Turhan at Basaksehir

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Tugra Turhan is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Late improvement for Adrian Benedyczak

At 27 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 4 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.

Boardroom

4 academy players handed senior numbers at Basaksehir

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

The dugout

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In brief

106 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

7 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Salih Uçan out for 43 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Basaksehir will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout

Ousseynou Ba says Basaksehir went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Late improvement for Doğan Alemdar

At 25 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 4 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.

Squad

The step up is real for Ekrem Stancic

At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

The dugout

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The dugout

Christopher Opéri has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Basaksehir will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

The dugout

No hiding place for Aleksandar Pešić

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aleksandar Pešić, and the manager let it.

Market

Experience through the door at Basaksehir

Nazım Sangaré arrives at 34 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.

In brief

105 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

31 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Salih Uçan breaks a bone — 51 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Transfer targets

Basaksehir rebuffed over Drissa Camara

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gaziantep have kept their man, and Basaksehir go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Konyaspor come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Basaksehir did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

The step up is real for Moussa Diarra

At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

A late step up for Bertuğ Yıldırım

At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

The dugout

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The dugout

Haris Hajradinović gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Festy Ebosele has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Basaksehir will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

104 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

24 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

59 days out for Salih Uçan after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Basaksehir will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Basaksehir say no — this time

The offer from Galatasaray for Enis Destan was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Batuhan Çelik is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

A late step up for Festy Ebosele

At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

The dugout

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The dugout

No hiding place for Doğan Alemdar

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Doğan Alemdar, and the manager let it.

Market

No place for Ivan Brnić in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ivan Brnić has his answer from Basaksehir; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

The dugout

When it matters, Abbosbek Fayzullayev plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

103 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

17 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

67 days out for Salih Uçan after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Basaksehir will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Basaksehir turn down Fenerbahce for Jakub Kałuziński

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Bertuğ Yıldırım has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Basaksehir can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Market

Berkay Aslan moves on

Gaziantep pay $1.3M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Basaksehir sell Melih Kabasakal for $820.0K

Melih Kabasakal has left for Fenerbahce in a $820.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Squad

Tugra Turhan is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Adrian Benedyczak has improved at 27, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

The dugout

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In brief

102 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

10 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Salih Uçan out for 75 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Basaksehir will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Basaksehir say no — this time

The offer from Besiktas for Melih Kabasakal was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market

Onur Ergün puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Basaksehir, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Ianis Hagi wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Basaksehir hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

The step up is real for Selcuk Unal

At 16 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

Late improvement for Jakub Kałuziński

At 25 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.

The dugout

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Market

Basaksehir promote Ozan Celik from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ozan Celik has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

In brief

101 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

3 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

84 days out for Salih Uçan after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Basaksehir will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Basaksehir turn down Alanyaspor for Abbosbek Fayzullayev

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Ivan Brnić asks to leave Basaksehir

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Bertuğ Yıldırım raises the bar for Basaksehir

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Basaksehir heard it as anything else.

Squad

Adrian Benedyczak in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abbosbek Fayzullayev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Jakub Kałuziński signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jakub Kałuziński and Basaksehir agree another 4 years.

The dugout

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Transfer targets

Giresunspor tell Basaksehir: Yiğit Efe Demir is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

In brief

100 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

26 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Salih Uçan breaks a bone — 92 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 92 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Fenerbahce come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Basaksehir did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

The dugout

Davie Selke says Basaksehir went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Aleksandar Pešić puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Basaksehir, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Adrian Benedyczak raises the bar for Basaksehir

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Basaksehir heard it as anything else.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Abbosbek Fayzullayev gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ianis Hagi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

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In brief

99 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

19 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Barış Alper Yılmaz moves on

Fenerbahce pay $39.3M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Squad

A fracture rules Salih Uçan out for 102 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Basaksehir will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Bertuğ Yıldırım is a Basaksehir player again

He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.

Market

Melih Kabasakal has said yes to Galatasaray

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Basaksehir have lost him in all but the paperwork.

The dugout

Çağlar Söyüncü: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Basaksehir have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Rey Manaj

Basaksehir asked and Sivasspor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

The terraces

Supporters turn on the $39.3M sale of Barış Alper Yılmaz

He is going to Fenerbahce, the club has $39.3M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.

Market

Galatasaray come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Basaksehir did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Adrian Benedyczak and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

In brief

98 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

12 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Adrian Benedyczak arrives at Basaksehir in a $23.8M statement of intent

There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Basaksehir have paid $23.8M for Adrian Benedyczak, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.

Squad

Salih Uçan breaks a bone — 111 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 111 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Transfer targets

Basaksehir bid $14.0M for Bertuğ Yıldırım

The offer went to Ankaragucu this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Market

Basaksehir get their man

The chase for Ianis Hagi ended with $9.1M changing hands and Alanyaspor out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.

Transfer targets

Ankaragucu tell Basaksehir: Bertuğ Yıldırım is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Market

Basaksehir turn down Besiktas for Jakub Kałuziński

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Hamza Güreler moves on

Fenerbahce pay $4.9M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Mathias Fjørtoft Løvik rejects the move

Basaksehir had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Trabzonspor, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Christopher Opéri in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

97 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

5 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

120 days out for Salih Uçan after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Basaksehir will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Transfer targets

An offer of $23.8M for Adrian Benedyczak

Basaksehir have gone to Kasimpasa with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Liel Abada

Basaksehir asked and Ankaragucu said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Basaksehir say no — this time

The offer from Fenerbahce for Abbosbek Fayzullayev was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Basaksehir walk away from Václav Černý

$14.5M was the most the club would pay and Besiktas were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Transfer targets

An offer of $9.1M for Ianis Hagi

Basaksehir have gone to Alanyaspor with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Market

Fenerbahce join the queue for Barış Alper Yılmaz

Add another name to the list: Fenerbahce have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Barış Alper Yılmaz. The answer from Basaksehir has not changed — yet.

Market

Salih Uçan hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Basaksehir can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

At 21, Berkay Aslan is already the best thing here

An average of 6.61 in a first team he is several years too young for. Basaksehir have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.

In brief

96 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

29 May 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Boardroom

Basaksehir are in Europe

Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz is named among the best

There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Basaksehir will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hamza Güreler is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Market

Tugra Turhan comes back from a loan that worked

19 appearances and 7 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Davie Selke

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

When it matters, Barış Alper Yılmaz plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

Doğan Alemdar asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

The Christopher Opéri question follows Basaksehir around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Christopher Opéri’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

95 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

22 May 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The dugout

Haris Hajradinović keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Basaksehir may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abbosbek Fayzullayev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Çağlar Söyüncü

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Christopher Opéri gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Christopher Opéri is on it.

Market

Festy Ebosele linked with a move away

The name of Festy Ebosele keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Basaksehir say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

94 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

15 May 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abbosbek Fayzullayev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

No hiding place for Umut Güneş

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Umut Güneş, and the manager let it.

The dugout

When it matters, Abbosbek Fayzullayev plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

The Abbosbek Fayzullayev talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Basaksehir know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

Doğan Alemdar has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Doğan Alemdar has written the date down.

The dugout

Haris Hajradinović knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Basaksehir, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Squad

Batuhan Çelik has had enough of the bench

“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Basaksehir will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.

Squad

Milan Tučić still has not settled

A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Basaksehir would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.

In brief

93 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

8 May 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

No hiding place for Olivier Kemen

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Olivier Kemen, and the manager let it.

Squad

Haris Hajradinović falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Festy Ebosele

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Festy Ebosele has come out of that comparison in the side, and Basaksehir have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

The dugout

When it matters, Festy Ebosele plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

Barış Alper Yılmaz linked with a move away

The name of Barış Alper Yılmaz keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Basaksehir say nothing, which says plenty.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Tugra Turhan’s exile

7 goals in 19 games at Krylya Sovetov — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Basaksehir updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

The dugout

Güven Yalçın knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Basaksehir, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Match

Continental football is in reach for Basaksehir

73 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.

In brief

92 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

1 May 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Barış Alper Yılmaz beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 32. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

Can Armando Güner, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.72

A mark of 7.72 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev is carrying Basaksehir

18 goals and a season average of 7.42. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Nobody wants to play Basaksehir right now

4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Enis Destan the difference as Basaksehir beat Konyaspor

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Enis Destan. 1‑0 against Konyaspor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Enis Destan in the eights

A performance of 8.43 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The dugout

Emirhan Topçu gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

91 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

24 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz is carrying Basaksehir

46 goals and a season average of 7.95. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Basaksehir tear Giresunspor apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 6‑1 against Giresunspor, and it could have been more.

Squad

4 goals for Enis Destan

The match ball belongs to Enis Destan, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Player ratings

A brace, and Barış Alper Yılmaz takes the afternoon — 8.64

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Barış Alper Yılmaz provided it, and the 8.64 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Can Armando Güner at 20 — 8.18

The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Can Armando Güner did not need any: 8.18, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Match

Nobody wants to play Basaksehir right now

3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Enis Destan

Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Basaksehir and Giresunspor in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

In brief

90 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

17 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.93 with 44 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

Basaksehir run riot against Adana Demirspor

4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Enis Destan scores twice — 9.32

Two goals and a mark of 9.32 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev scores twice — 8.45

Two goals and a mark of 8.45 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

Christopher Opéri in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

One of those days for Festy Ebosele

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

Umut Güneş gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Haris Hajradinović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

Çağlar Söyüncü left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Çağlar Söyüncü will call it something else in private.

In brief

89 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

10 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev scores twice — 8.39

Two goals and a mark of 8.39 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Can Armando Güner, 20, steals the show — 7.74

Marked 7.74 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev is carrying Basaksehir

16 goals and a season average of 7.40. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abbosbek Fayzullayev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Basaksehir find a way past Fatih Karagumruk

Fatih Karagumruk made Basaksehir work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Can Armando Güner

At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Player ratings

Enis Destan in the eights

A performance of 8.35 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The dugout

Emin Bayram gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

88 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

3 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abbosbek Fayzullayev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Can Armando Güner is the month’s best young player

At 20 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Basaksehir will try not to make too much of it.

Squad

Player of the month: Barış Alper Yılmaz

Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order Basaksehir prefer.

The dugout

Haris Hajradinović gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Festy Ebosele has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Basaksehir will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Market

The Barış Alper Yılmaz story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Barış Alper Yılmaz signs something — a contract at Basaksehir or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Market

No place for Ekrem Stancic in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ekrem Stancic has his answer from Basaksehir; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

Loan watch

Tugra Turhan keeps scoring at Krylya Sovetov

19 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

In brief

87 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

27 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Festy Ebosele beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

Emre Kaplan goes up and wins it — 7.26

A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.26 for the rest of it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.38 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Çağlar Söyüncü

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

Late, late show earns Basaksehir a point

Minute 95, against Besiktas, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.

Squad

Home is on Lenny Montfort's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Basaksehir are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Squad

Haris Hajradinović falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Basaksehir

Something was said to Enis Destan and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

In brief

86 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

20 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Barış Alper Yılmaz

44 goals and a season average of 7.97 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Doğan Alemdar

There were 14 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

A chastening European night for Basaksehir

1‑4 against Borussia Dortmund. The honest reading is not that the players were poor; it is that the distance between this club and that one is currently measured in things money takes years to buy.

Match

Basaksehir throw away a 2-goal lead

2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Galatasaray the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Basaksehir will enjoy reviewing.

The terraces

The stands have turned

“Enough is enough. We have watched this for months.” 7 of the 35 senior players walked off to it, and the message was not aimed at any one of them.

Squad

Christopher Opéri in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abbosbek Fayzullayev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Basaksehir come up short against Galatasaray

Galatasaray left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

No hiding place for Doğan Alemdar

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Doğan Alemdar, and the manager let it.

In brief

85 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

13 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz is carrying Basaksehir

43 goals and a season average of 7.96. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Barış Alper Yılmaz leads the rout of Kayserispor

7‑0, and Barış Alper Yılmaz took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Basaksehir tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz takes the match ball home

4 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

The dugout

Serdar Saatçı says Basaksehir went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Barış Alper Yılmaz was on a different afternoon to everybody else

10.00. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Match

7 goals as Basaksehir and Kayserispor go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Basaksehir and Kayserispor, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev in the eights

A performance of 8.48 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

84 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

6 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz is carrying Basaksehir

39 goals and a season average of 7.90. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Basaksehir run riot against Gaziantep

5‑2, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Squad

A day Barış Alper Yılmaz will not forget

4 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

The dugout

Ousseynou Ba: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Basaksehir have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Can Armando Güner

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Boardroom

Albert Gomez signs for Gaziantep while still at Basaksehir

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Albert Gomez has agreed terms with Gaziantep for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Squad

Olivier Kemen signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Olivier Kemen and Basaksehir agree another 3 years.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Basaksehir and Gaziantep in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

In brief

83 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

28 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Doğan Alemdar stands alone

17 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Match

A European night to forget for Basaksehir

0‑3. Borussia Dortmund play this football every year and it showed in every part of the pitch. The lesson is expensive and, for a club at this stage, probably necessary.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abbosbek Fayzullayev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Basaksehir get the job done against Ankaragucu

A 1‑0 win over Ankaragucu, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Olivier Kemen left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Olivier Kemen will call it something else in private.

Boardroom

Inquest at Basaksehir

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

Player ratings

Enis Destan takes the honours

Marked 7.78 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Basaksehir had the best player on the pitch.

In brief

82 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

21 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Arda Kızıldağ keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Basaksehir may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abbosbek Fayzullayev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.31 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

The dugout

No hiding place for Emin Bayram

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emin Bayram, and the manager let it.

Loan watch

Ekrem Stancic has seen enough of Gaziantep

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Basaksehir, and 0 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.

The dugout

Barış Alper Yılmaz has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Basaksehir will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Squad

Basaksehir are still strangers to each other

6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

In brief

81 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

14 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.88 with 35 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Jakub Kałuziński’s move to Galatasaray falls through

The deal that would have taken Jakub Kałuziński to Galatasaray has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Basaksehir with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abbosbek Fayzullayev and Basaksehir agree another 5 years.

Match

Basaksehir come up short against Sivasspor

Sivasspor left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Boardroom

Cenk Tosun will join Basaksehir for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Cenk Tosun has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Basaksehir have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Player ratings

Barış Alper Yılmaz in the eights

A performance of 8.39 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Enis Destan ran the middle of the pitch — 6.54

He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.54, and not one of them will make a highlights package.

In brief

  • The dugout No hiding place for Davie Selke
  • Boardroom Nobody left the Basaksehir dressing room in a hurry
  • Squad Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work
80 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

7 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz is carrying Basaksehir

34 goals and a season average of 7.86. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Market

The PSV deal is off

Everything was agreed until it was not, and Barış Alper Yılmaz reports back to Basaksehir with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.

Player ratings

Can Armando Güner beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 30. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Transfer targets

Ankaragucu tell Basaksehir: Eliton Junior is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 6 signed and 6 gone

That is the business done at Basaksehir until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Basaksehir baulk at the price for Eliton Junior

Ankaragucu wanted more than $460.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Boardroom

Basaksehir beat the market to Nazım Sangaré from Gaziantep

Gaziantep will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Nazım Sangaré has pre-agreed a move to Basaksehir, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

In brief

79 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

31 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz is carrying Basaksehir

33 goals and a season average of 7.84. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

21 days out for Çağlar Söyüncü after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Basaksehir will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

Basaksehir run riot against Alanyaspor

7‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Market

Business is business: Kerem Aktürkoğlu goes

Besiktas paid $41.7M and Basaksehir took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Player ratings

Barış Alper Yılmaz scores twice — 10.00

Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

A brace, and Enis Destan takes the afternoon — 8.99

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Enis Destan provided it, and the 8.99 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

The terraces

A $41.7M sale, and a town that did not want it

Kerem Aktürkoğlu has gone, the accounts have $41.7M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.

Market

Jakub Kałuziński attracts admirers

The name of Jakub Kałuziński has come up in conversations Basaksehir were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Market

Berkay Özcan moves on

Galatasaray pay $1.6M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

In brief

78 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

24 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.77 with 31 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Çağlar Söyüncü breaks a bone — 30 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

The small margins put Basaksehir out

Out, 2‑3 to Sivasspor, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Match

Basaksehir let it slip despite Barış Alper Yılmaz

Barış Alper Yılmaz had done his part in building a 3-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Antalyaspor were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.

Squad

A day Barış Alper Yılmaz will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Doğan Alemdar

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Ousseynou Ba asks to leave Basaksehir

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Business is business: Eldor Shomurodov goes

Galatasaray paid $6.0M and Basaksehir took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Player ratings

Emirhan Topçu goes up and wins it — 7.69

A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.69 for the rest of it.

In brief

77 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

17 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Çağlar Söyüncü breaks a bone — 38 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Eldor Shomurodov has said yes to Galatasaray

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Basaksehir have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Squad

Doğan Alemdar stands alone

9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Market

Basaksehir turn down Standard Liege for Barış Alper Yılmaz

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Transfer targets

Basaksehir baulk at the price for Václav Černý

Besiktas wanted more than $7.5M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Squad

Kerem Aktürkoğlu is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.55 with 17 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Market

Emre Kaplan hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Basaksehir can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Ahmet Arslan

Basaksehir asked and Ankaragucu said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

In brief

76 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

10 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz is carrying Basaksehir

28 goals and a season average of 7.70. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Basaksehir run riot against Istanbulspor

8‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Market

Güven Yalçın is a Basaksehir player

The fee is $10.0M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Alanyaspor drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.

Squad

3 goals for Eldor Shomurodov

The match ball belongs to Eldor Shomurodov, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Squad

3 goals for Barış Alper Yılmaz

The match ball belongs to Barış Alper Yılmaz, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Market

Basaksehir turn down Galatasaray for Eldor Shomurodov

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Basaksehir sign Emirhan Topçu for $6.3M

The paperwork is done: Emirhan Topçu joins from Besiktas in a deal worth $6.3M. Now comes the harder part.

Market

Batuhan Çelik turns Fatih Karagumruk down

“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.

Transfer targets

Gaziantep tell Basaksehir: Arda Kızıldağ is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

In brief

75 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

3 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Doğan Alemdar keeps Basaksehir in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

Basaksehir tear Trabzonspor apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑2 against Trabzonspor, and it could have been more.

Squad

A day Barış Alper Yılmaz will not forget

4 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.60 with 25 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Transfer targets

Basaksehir make their move for Güven Yalçın

$10.0M on the table at Alanyaspor. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Transfer targets

Basaksehir bid $6.3M for Emirhan Topçu

The offer went to Besiktas this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Market

Basaksehir turn down Besiktas for Abbosbek Fayzullayev

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz honoured for the season

The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Basaksehir had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.

Market

Milan Tučić hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Basaksehir can pretend not to have heard.

In brief

74 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

27 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Basaksehir tear Hatayspor apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 7‑1 against Hatayspor, and it could have been more.

Squad

A day Kerem Aktürkoğlu will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Squad

A day Barış Alper Yılmaz will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Barış Alper Yılmaz

21 goals and a season average of 7.50 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

The dugout

Berat Özdemir says Basaksehir went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Kerem Aktürkoğlu among the goals in a wild afternoon

8 goals in one match, Kerem Aktürkoğlu on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Basaksehir and Hatayspor.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Kerem Aktürkoğlu at his very best

Marked 9.74. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Basaksehir.

Player ratings

One of those days for Eldor Shomurodov

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

73 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

20 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Can Armando Güner

Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kerem Aktürkoğlu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Konyaspor end the Basaksehir run at 6

Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 6 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.

The dugout

No hiding place for Olivier Kemen

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Olivier Kemen, and the manager let it.

Match

Basaksehir come up short against Konyaspor

Konyaspor left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

Burak Yazici faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Burak Yazici after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Barış Alper Yılmaz has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Basaksehir will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Market

No place for Ousseynou Ba in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ousseynou Ba has his answer from Basaksehir; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

72 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

13 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Basaksehir take Ajax apart in Europe

5‑2. Nights like this are why clubs spend decades trying to qualify for this competition, and they arrive perhaps twice in that time. Everybody who was in the ground will describe it badly for years.

Squad

Doğan Alemdar keeps Basaksehir in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

Basaksehir tear Giresunspor apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Giresunspor, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

Barış Alper Yılmaz scores twice — 9.92

Two goals and a mark of 9.92 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Kerem Aktürkoğlu scores twice — 9.69

Two goals and a mark of 9.69 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Can Armando Güner beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 30. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Davie Selke takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Match

Basaksehir cannot stop winning

6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Kerem Aktürkoğlu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

In brief

71 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

6 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Abbosbek Fayzullayev leads the rout of Adana Demirspor

5‑0, and Abbosbek Fayzullayev took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Basaksehir tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

Kerem Aktürkoğlu scores twice — 9.30

Two goals and a mark of 9.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

A day Abbosbek Fayzullayev will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Match

Basaksehir make it 4 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Basaksehir have 4 straight wins of it.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Kerem Aktürkoğlu

13 goals and a season average of 7.46 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kerem Aktürkoğlu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Enis Destan

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

Adana Demirspor blown away early

There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Adana Demirspor tried to reorganise, Basaksehir did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.

In brief

70 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

29 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

5 goals for Barış Alper Yılmaz

The match ball belongs to Barış Alper Yılmaz, whose 5 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Match

A European night to remember for Basaksehir

5‑3 against Legia, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.

Match

Kerem Aktürkoğlu wins it after the whistle should have gone

91 minutes played. Kerem Aktürkoğlu found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Fatih Karagumruk went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.39 with 18 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Basaksehir make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Basaksehir have 3 straight wins of it.

Match

8 goals as Basaksehir and Legia go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Basaksehir and Legia, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kerem Aktürkoğlu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Çağlar Söyüncü

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

69 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

22 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Basaksehir march on in the cup

Gaziantep are out and Basaksehir go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Player ratings

A brace, and Aleksandar Pešić takes the afternoon — 8.53

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Aleksandar Pešić provided it, and the 8.53 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Ivan Brnić was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

No hiding place for Olivier Kemen

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Olivier Kemen, and the manager let it.

The terraces

Basaksehir supporters have found a favourite in Selcuk Unal

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 15-year-old it feels ownership of. Selcuk Unal has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eldor Shomurodov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Appearance number 200 for Berat Özdemir

200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Burak Yazici, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

In brief

68 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

15 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

The dugout

Olivier Kemen keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Basaksehir may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Player ratings

Festy Ebosele was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 30. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kerem Aktürkoğlu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Basaksehir come up short against Besiktas

Besiktas left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Festy Ebosele

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Abbosbek Fayzullayev

Marked 8.24 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

A quiet fortnight at Basaksehir

With 5 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Burak Yazici left the room before anybody could ask which.

In brief

67 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

8 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Basaksehir come up short in Europe

1‑3 away to the standard of Braga. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.

Squad

Doğan Alemdar stands alone

8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Galatasaray take the points off Basaksehir

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Kerem Aktürkoğlu is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.33 with 10 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Eldor Shomurodov falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Kerem Aktürkoğlu

Marked 8.03 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

The dugout

No hiding place for Doğan Alemdar

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Doğan Alemdar, and the manager let it.

In brief

66 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

1 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Kerem Aktürkoğlu leads the rout of Kayserispor

3‑0, and Kerem Aktürkoğlu took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Basaksehir tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

A brace, and Kerem Aktürkoğlu takes the afternoon — 9.04

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kerem Aktürkoğlu provided it, and the 9.04 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz is carrying Basaksehir

18 goals and a season average of 7.43. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eldor Shomurodov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Abbosbek Fayzullayev

Marked 8.25 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

The dugout

Umut Güneş gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Kerem Aktürkoğlu gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kerem Aktürkoğlu is on it.

The dugout

Burak Yazici: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑0, already talking about the next one.

In brief

65 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

25 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Haris Hajradinović wins it after the whistle should have gone

95 minutes played. Haris Hajradinović found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Gaziantep went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Match

Basaksehir come up short in Europe

2‑4 away to the standard of Braga. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.

Player ratings

A brace, and Barış Alper Yılmaz takes the afternoon — 8.40

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Barış Alper Yılmaz provided it, and the 8.40 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Haris Hajradinović, 33, rolls back the years — 8.06

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.06 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Player ratings

Festy Ebosele beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Christopher Opéri in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

6 goals as Basaksehir and Braga go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Basaksehir and Braga, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kerem Aktürkoğlu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Basaksehir get the job done against Gaziantep

A 1‑0 win over Gaziantep, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

In brief

64 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

18 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Basaksehir tear Ankaragucu apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Ankaragucu, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

Can Armando Güner runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev scores twice — 8.25

Two goals and a mark of 8.25 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

The dugout

Ousseynou Ba: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Basaksehir have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Jakub Kałuziński pops up at the right end — 7.96

7.96, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Basaksehir

The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Christopher Opéri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kerem Aktürkoğlu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Enis Destan in the eights

A performance of 8.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

63 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

11 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Basaksehir

The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eldor Shomurodov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Enis Destan was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.41. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Player ratings

Abbosbek Fayzullayev in the eights

A performance of 8.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The dugout

Abbosbek Fayzullayev gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

Late, late show earns Basaksehir a point

Minute 96, against Kasimpasa, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.

Squad

Kerem Aktürkoğlu is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.27 with 8 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

Jakub Kałuziński was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

In brief

62 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

4 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Enis Destan lights up a European night for Basaksehir

2‑2 against Ajax, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Enis Destan was at the centre of the description.

Match

A 2-goal lead gone for Basaksehir

It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Ajax kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Basaksehir will be asked about the last half hour all week.

The dugout

Çağlar Söyüncü: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Basaksehir have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.45 with 18 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Kerem Aktürkoğlu falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

6 unbeaten for Basaksehir

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Basaksehir did not have in the autumn.

The dugout

Olivier Kemen gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

Can Armando Güner was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

In brief

61 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

27 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Basaksehir run riot against Umraniyespor

7‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz takes the match ball home

4 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Player ratings

Eldor Shomurodov was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 34. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Kerem Aktürkoğlu takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Barış Alper Yılmaz

Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Kerem Aktürkoğlu at his very best

Marked 9.99. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Basaksehir.

Match

Barış Alper Yılmaz among the goals in a wild afternoon

8 goals in one match, Barış Alper Yılmaz on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Basaksehir and Umraniyespor.

Match

Another one collected away from home

4 on the bounce on the road for Basaksehir. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.

In brief

60 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Basaksehir do the business in Europe

3‑1. Continental football is where a club finds out what it actually is, and Basaksehir came through the finding-out well against Legia.

The dugout

Yusuf Barasi says Basaksehir went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Player ratings

A goal and an assist for Kerem Aktürkoğlu — 7.84

Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.84 beside his name.

Squad

Batuhan Çelik is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

A late step up for Enis Destan

At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Squad

Emin Bayram signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Emin Bayram and Basaksehir agree another 4 years.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Barış Alper Yılmaz

Marked 8.57 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Festy Ebosele was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.19. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

In brief

59 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The dugout

Haris Hajradinović: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Basaksehir have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

The step up is real for Hamza Güreler

At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kerem Aktürkoğlu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

A late step up for Jakub Kałuziński

At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Match

Basaksehir are at home on the road

3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.

Match

Enis Destan sends Basaksehir past Antalyaspor

It finished 1‑0, and it was Enis Destan’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Basaksehir.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Enis Destan at his very best

Marked 8.04. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Basaksehir.

The dugout

No hiding place for Abbosbek Fayzullayev

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abbosbek Fayzullayev, and the manager let it.

In brief

58 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Doğan Alemdar

There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

The dugout

Abbosbek Fayzullayev says Basaksehir went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

A career in one shirt: Volkan Babacan

12 seasons and 322 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 16 in, 11 out at Basaksehir

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 11 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Squad

Kerem Aktürkoğlu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Real improvement from Can Armando Güner at Basaksehir

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Can Armando Güner is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Match

Abbosbek Fayzullayev’s goal not enough for Basaksehir

Abbosbek Fayzullayev scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Fenerbahce, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The terraces

Basaksehir supporters have found a favourite in Abbosbek Fayzullayev

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Abbosbek Fayzullayev has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Abbosbek Fayzullayev

Marked 8.15 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

57 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

30 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Barış Alper Yılmaz leads the rout of Istanbulspor

7‑0, and Barış Alper Yılmaz took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Basaksehir tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

4 goals for Barış Alper Yılmaz

The match ball belongs to Barış Alper Yılmaz, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Squad

Kerem Aktürkoğlu takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Player ratings

Can Armando Güner, 19, steals the show — 7.68

Marked 7.68 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

The dugout

Berat Özdemir: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Basaksehir have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Christopher Opéri in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Ümit Akdağ is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Barış Alper Yılmaz at his very best

Marked 10.00. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Basaksehir.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Kerem Aktürkoğlu

Marked 9.96 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

56 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Doğan Alemdar stands alone

10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Player ratings

Barış Alper Yılmaz scores twice — 9.08

Two goals and a mark of 9.08 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Market

Basaksehir sell Muhammed Şengezer for $5.7M

Muhammed Şengezer has left for Trabzonspor in a $5.7M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Real improvement from Batuhan Çelik at Basaksehir

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Batuhan Çelik is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Match

6 goals as Basaksehir and Trabzonspor go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Basaksehir and Trabzonspor, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Match

Basaksehir come up short against Trabzonspor

Trabzonspor left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kerem Aktürkoğlu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Enis Destan

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Enis Destan, and the manager let it.

In brief

55 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A day Barış Alper Yılmaz will not forget

7 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Match

No mercy from Basaksehir

Hatayspor will want this one forgotten quickly: 10‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Basaksehir were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Player ratings

Vintage Haris Hajradinović — 8.02

At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.02, and nobody on the pitch better.

Player ratings

A defender's goal wins it for Basaksehir — 7.76

1 for Jakub Kałuziński, marked 7.76, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

The step up is real for Hamza Güreler

At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Barış Alper Yılmaz at his very best

Marked 10.00. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Basaksehir.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

11 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Basaksehir and Hatayspor in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kerem Aktürkoğlu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

54 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Ozan Tufan asks to leave Basaksehir

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Kerem Aktürkoğlu stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Kerem Aktürkoğlu and Basaksehir agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The step up is real for Tugra Turhan

At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Market

Tugra Turhan attracts admirers

The name of Tugra Turhan has come up in conversations Basaksehir were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

A late step up for Jakub Kałuziński

At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

The dugout

Davie Selke knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Davie Selke trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

Barış Alper Yılmaz linked with a move away

The name of Barış Alper Yılmaz keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Basaksehir say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

Doğan Alemdar has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Basaksehir will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

53 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Muhammed Şengezer hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Basaksehir can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Kerem Aktürkoğlu signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kerem Aktürkoğlu commits to Basaksehir for another 4 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kerem Aktürkoğlu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Berat Özdemir

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

When it matters, Ivan Brnić plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

Umut Güneş knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Basaksehir, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

Christopher Opéri linked with a move away

The name of Christopher Opéri keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Basaksehir say nothing, which says plenty.

Squad

Tugra Turhan still has not settled

A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Basaksehir would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.

In brief

52 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Volkan Babacan says no to Trabzonspor

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Volkan Babacan had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Market

Ömer Ali Şahiner moves on

Kayserispor pay $200.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Transfer targets

Basaksehir rebuffed over Rhys Walters

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Port Vale have kept their man, and Basaksehir go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eldor Shomurodov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Haris Hajradinović signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Haris Hajradinović and Basaksehir agree another 3 years.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ousseynou Ba

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ousseynou Ba, and the manager let it.

Market

Haris Hajradinović brings the grey hairs Basaksehir lacked

At 33, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.

Squad

The formation has left Haris Hajradinović behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Basaksehir will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

In brief

51 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Ömer Ali Şahiner has said yes to Kayserispor

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Basaksehir have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Tugra Turhan says no to Sochi

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Tugra Turhan had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Transfer targets

Gaziantep tell Basaksehir: Christopher Lungoyi is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Muhammed Şengezer and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

No hiding place for Davie Selke

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Davie Selke, and the manager let it.

Squad

Words at Basaksehir training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eldor Shomurodov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Doğan Alemdar signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Doğan Alemdar commits to Basaksehir for another 4 years.

Squad

12 new faces, and Basaksehir are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

The dugout

Çağlar Söyüncü asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

50 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Besiktas tell Basaksehir: Václav Černý is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Market

Basaksehir say no — this time

The offer from Fatih Karagumruk for Hamza Güreler was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

Muhammed Şengezer in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kerem Aktürkoğlu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Abbosbek Fayzullayev stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Abbosbek Fayzullayev and Basaksehir agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Market

Tugra Turhan attracts admirers

The name of Tugra Turhan has come up in conversations Basaksehir were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Basaksehir count the cost of losing Ali Yildiz

41 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

The dugout

Abbosbek Fayzullayev gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market

Ozan Tufan is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Basaksehir has been clear about where Ozan Tufan stands, which is more than many ever get.

In brief

49 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Fenerbahce come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Basaksehir did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Onur Ergün asks to leave Basaksehir

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Muhammed Şengezer raises the bar for Basaksehir

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Basaksehir heard it as anything else.

Squad

Tempers go at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kerem Aktürkoğlu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

Eyes on Hamza Güreler again

The phone has started ringing about Hamza Güreler again, and this time the name on the line is Fatih Karagumruk. Basaksehir are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

Tugra Turhan stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Tugra Turhan and Basaksehir agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Eldor Shomurodov is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Eldor Shomurodov has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.

Boardroom

Intake day at the Basaksehir academy

5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.

In brief

48 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Basaksehir rebuffed over Rey Manaj

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sivasspor have kept their man, and Basaksehir go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Volkan Babacan puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Basaksehir, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Davie Selke attracts admirers

The name of Davie Selke has come up in conversations Basaksehir were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Words exchanged at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Festy Ebosele has improved at 24, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

Squad

Ozan Tufan out for 44 days

The medical room confirms 44 days on the sidelines for Ozan Tufan, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Basaksehir count the cost of losing Milan Tučić

18 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

The dugout

No hiding place for Doğan Alemdar

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Doğan Alemdar, and the manager let it.

Market

The Barış Alper Yılmaz question follows Basaksehir around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Barış Alper Yılmaz’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

47 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Basaksehir sell Jerome Opoku for $12.6M

Jerome Opoku has left for Fenerbahce in a $12.6M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Transfer targets

Alanyaspor tell Basaksehir: Ianis Hagi is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Market

Basaksehir turn down Alanyaspor for Abbosbek Fayzullayev

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

The dugout

Doğan Alemdar says Basaksehir went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Eldor Shomurodov’s exile

20 goals in 25 games at Basaksehir — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Basaksehir updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Market

Basaksehir plan ahead with Enis Destan from Konyaspor

The most awkward business a club does is signing tomorrow's answer while today's is still in the building. Enis Destan comes from Konyaspor for exactly that purpose, and the handover will not be discussed publicly by anybody.

Market

Only the photograph left for Volkan Babacan

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Volkan Babacan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Basaksehir the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

A falling-out at Basaksehir

Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Real improvement from Hamza Güreler at Basaksehir

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Hamza Güreler is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

In brief

46 Edition

The Basaksehir Chronicle

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Jerome Opoku has said yes to Fenerbahce

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Basaksehir have lost him in all but the paperwork.

The dugout

Davie Selke says Basaksehir went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Abdoulie Njie turns Hatayspor down

“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.

Transfer targets

Adana Demirspor tell Basaksehir: Oussama Idrissi is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Market

Bertuğ Yıldırım moves on

Ankaragucu pay $9.0M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Market

Onur Bulut hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Basaksehir can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Barış Alper Yılmaz in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Basaksehir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

Basaksehir to lose Volkan Babacan for free

There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Volkan Babacan has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.

Squad

A row about effort at Basaksehir

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kerem Aktürkoğlu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief