Galatasaray U18

Turkish Super Lig U18
24 Oct 2026
Saturday
Process
12 Edition

The Galatasaray Courier

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules İlkay Gündoğan out for 104 days

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

Player ratings

Vintage Mauro Icardi — 8.42

At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.42, and nobody on the pitch better.

The dugout

Günay Güvenç says Galatasaray 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

6 goals as Galatasaray and Umraniyespor go for it

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

Match

Mauro Icardi’s goal not enough for Galatasaray

Mauro Icardi scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑4 to Umraniyespor, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

Words exchanged at Galatasaray

Noa Lang 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

Yaser Asprilla turns it into his own net

Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Galatasaray deserved better, and so did he.

Squad

Rafael Leão is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.26 with 10 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

The dugout

Mario Lemina 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

Back issues
11 Edition

The Galatasaray Courier

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

81 days out for Günay Güvenç after a fracture

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

Market

Only the photograph left for Yunus Akgün

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yunus Akgün will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Galatasaray the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Player ratings

Vintage İlkay Gündoğan — 8.06

At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.06, and nobody on the pitch better.

Match

Nobody wants to play Galatasaray 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.

Squad

Leroy Sané 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 Galatasaray this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

International break empties Galatasaray

10 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.

Squad

Victor Osimhen is carrying Galatasaray

13 goals and a season average of 7.36. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Lucas Torreira the difference as Galatasaray beat Alanyaspor

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

Player ratings

One of those days for Lucas Torreira

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

10 Edition

The Galatasaray Courier

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Galatasaray announce themselves in Europe

3‑0 against Viking, on a night that will be replayed at this club for a generation. Continental reputations are made in single evenings and this was the evening.

Match

Galatasaray run riot against Antalyaspor

5‑0, 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 fracture rules Günay Güvenç out for 88 days

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

Player ratings

Barış Alper Yılmaz scores twice — 9.77

Two goals and a mark of 9.77 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

Victor Osimhen takes the match ball home

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

Squad

Leroy Sané takes the match ball home

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

Squad

Words exchanged at Galatasaray

Victor Osimhen 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 masterclass from Victor Osimhen

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

Leroy Sané was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.66. 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

9 Edition

The Galatasaray Courier

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Fenerbahce take the derby

1‑3, and no way to dress it up. A derby defeat follows a supporter to work on Monday, and this one will follow him all week.

Squad

97 days out for Günay Güvenç after a fracture

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

Squad

Uğurcan Çakır keeps Galatasaray in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

A falling-out at Galatasaray

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

Squad

Abdülkerim Bardakcı 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

Abdülkerim Bardakcı 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

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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Erdem Yazici to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

Victor Osimhen has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Galatasaray 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

Galatasaray pick somebody else ahead of Roland Sallai

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

In brief

8 Edition

The Galatasaray Courier

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

The knee: Deniz Gül out for 17 days

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

Match

A statement in Europe from Galatasaray

5‑1 against Randers, and a performance that will change how the rest of the competition talks about this club. Reputations in continental football are built in single evenings and this was one.

Squad

Victor Osimhen takes the match ball home

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

Squad

106 days out for Günay Güvenç after a fracture

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

Squad

Victor Osimhen 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 Galatasaray this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Victor Osimhen in the eights

A performance of 10.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

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 Galatasaray and Randers in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Match

Victor Osimhen sends Galatasaray past Istanbulspor

It finished 3‑1, and it was Victor Osimhen’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Galatasaray.

Player ratings

The game went through Wilfried Singo — 7.59

Marked 7.59 on 12 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.

In brief

7 Edition

The Galatasaray Courier

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Yunus Akgün beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 48. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

The knee: Deniz Gül out for 25 days

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

Squad

114 days out for Günay Güvenç after a fracture

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

Market

Yunus Akgün is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Galatasaray is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Player ratings

Vintage Mario Lemina — 7.96

At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.96, and nobody on the pitch better.

Market

So close: Alexey Batrakov’s move dies late

The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Baltika moved on, Alexey Batrakov reports back to Galatasaray, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.

Market

Roland Sallai raises the bar for Galatasaray

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

Match

Galatasaray come up short against Trabzonspor

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

Squad

Words at Galatasaray training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. İlkay Gündoğan 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

6 Edition

The Galatasaray Courier

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Deniz Gül

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

Match

No mercy from Galatasaray

Hatayspor will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Galatasaray were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad

3 goals for Yunus Akgün

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

Player ratings

İlkay Gündoğan, 35, rolls back the years — 8.17

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.17 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Match

Galatasaray make it 4 in a row

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

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 11 signed and 4 gone

That is the business done at Galatasaray 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

10 Galatasaray players away with their countries

The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 10 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.

Market

Alexey Batrakov attracts admirers

The name of Alexey Batrakov has come up in conversations Galatasaray were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Noa Lang 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 Galatasaray this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

5 Edition

The Galatasaray Courier

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Deniz Gül 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

Galatasaray run riot against Konyaspor

7‑0, 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 Rafael Leão 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.

Market

Yunus Akgün has said yes to Hatayspor

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

Market

Galatasaray say no — this time

The offer from Bayer Leverkusen for Leroy Sané 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

A brace, and Leroy Sané takes the afternoon — 8.63

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Leroy Sané provided it, and the 8.63 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

Galatasaray make it 3 in a row

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

Match

Rafael Leão among the goals in a wild afternoon

7 goals in one match, Rafael Leão on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Galatasaray and Konyaspor.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Rafael Leão

Marked 9.91 — 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

4 Edition

The Galatasaray Courier

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Victor Osimhen leads the rout of Giresunspor

8‑0, and Victor Osimhen took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Galatasaray tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Market

Galatasaray spend $9.6M to raise the standard

This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $9.6M has been paid because Arsenii Batahov is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.

Player ratings

Both of them Leroy Sané's — 8.67

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.67, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

A day Victor Osimhen 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 Rafael Leão 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.

Market

Galatasaray turn down Fatih Karagumruk 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.

Squad

Arsenii Batahov arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Arsenii Batahov has, at Galatasaray, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Squad

Tempers go at Galatasaray

Leroy Sané 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

One of those days for Victor Osimhen

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.96, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

3 Edition

The Galatasaray Courier

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

A day Victor Osimhen will not forget

5 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

Victor Osimhen leads the rout of Adana Demirspor

11‑0, and Victor Osimhen took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Galatasaray tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Transfer targets

Galatasaray agree $9.6M for Arsenii Batahov

The clubs have shaken hands with Trabzonspor; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

Market

Brighton come back empty-handed

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

Player ratings

Both of them Leroy Sané's — 8.63

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.63, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

A brace, and Barış Alper Yılmaz takes the afternoon — 8.54

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Barış Alper Yılmaz provided it, and the 8.54 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Business is business: Kaan Ayhan goes

Trabzonspor paid $2.6M and Galatasaray took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Squad

Tempers go at Galatasaray

Victor Osimhen 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

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 Galatasaray and Adana Demirspor in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

In brief

2 Edition

The Galatasaray Courier

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Galatasaray say no — this time

The offer from Spartak Moscow for Lucas Torreira 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

Trabzonspor tell Galatasaray: Batista Mendy 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

Ahmed Kutucu says no to Sivasspor

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ahmed Kutucu had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Squad

Rafael Leão stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Rafael Leão and Galatasaray agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Galatasaray

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

Market

Roland Sallai 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 Galatasaray hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Market

Galatasaray promote Selcuk Aktorkoglu from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Selcuk Aktorkoglu 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.

The dugout

Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.

Looking ahead

Abdülkerim Bardakcı goes back to face Adana Demirspor

Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Abdülkerim Bardakcı’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Galatasaray needing him to play as if none of it matters.

In brief

1 Edition

The Galatasaray Courier

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Leroy Sané raises the bar for Galatasaray

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

Market

Barış Alper Yılmaz attracts admirers

The name of Barış Alper Yılmaz has come up in conversations Galatasaray were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Words exchanged at Galatasaray

Victor Osimhen 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

İlkay Gündoğan stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” İlkay Gündoğan and Galatasaray agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A row about effort at Galatasaray

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

Market

Talks stall between Galatasaray and Mario Lemina

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

In brief