7 Premier League flops who became Turkish Super Lig heroes
Former Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and West Ham players feature in our list of Premier League flops that went on to achieve hero status in the Turkish Super Lig.
Legendary Premier League title winners like Robin Van Persie, Didier Drogba and Edin Dzeko went to Turkey in their twilight years, but there’s an argument that none of them did as well over there as players that never left anything quite the same legacy in English football.
Here are seven players that flopped in the Premier League before going on to achieve hero status in the Turkish Super Lig.
Davinson Sanchez
It’d be harsh to label Sanchez as an out-and-out flop at Tottenham.
The Colombian had his moments over the course of his 150+ appearances for Spurs, but it would also be fair to say he never quite developed into “one of the best centre-backs in the world” as talked up by Mauricio Pochettino when he first arrived back in 2017.
It was hoped he’d one day become the leader of Tottenham’s backline after Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen moved on, but that never quite happened and he quietly departed for Galatasaray in 2013.
Yet those who watch him week in, week out in the Turkish Super Lig swear he’s world-class.
“Sanchez is a better centre-back than Van Dijk,” posited Galatasaray legend Servet Cetin in September.
“Sanchez has a one-on-one game. He has pace, plays in a wider area and doesn’t miss men. He does a much more difficult job. He gets off the ball very well. Sanchez is a much better stopper than van Dijk.
“Maybe people will say come off it, but it doesn’t matter if it’s Liverpool. For example, Sami Hyypia came to Turkey and was not liked. So, Sanchez is better than Van Dijk and many other centre-backs in the Premier League.”
To be fair, Sanchez has been a rock at the back as Galatasaray claimed the Turkish Super Lig title with a record 102-point haul last season. And he’s once again shone this season as they look to retain their title ahead of Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.
Fabio Borini
Call Borini a flop in Sunderland and see what happens. Didn’t you see those goals in the mid-noughties Tyne-Wear derbies?
Those legend-making goals aside, the Italian striker wasn’t especially prolific in English football. He notched just one Premier League goal for Liverpool and never bettered a tally of seven at Sunderland, with whom he suffered relegation in 2016-17.
After similarly goal-shy years in Serie A with AC Milan and Hellas Verona, Borini enjoyed a second wind at Fatih Karagumruk. He was especially brilliant in the 2019-20 season, in which he notched 20 goals and nine assists in just 30 Super Lig appearances.
Nowadays he’s back in Italy, struggling for goals at fallen giants Sampdoria. Those goal numbers out in Turkey stick out like a sore thumb when you look at his overall career.
Mame Biram Diouf
The former Senegal international never quite made the grade at Manchester United after being signed up as a youngster from Molde back in 2009. He never quite caught fire on loan at Blackburn Rovers and while his graft was appreciated at Stoke City, a record of just 25 goals in 157 appearances for the Potters left a lot to be desired.
Diouf left the Bet365 Stadium for Super Lig outfit Hatayspor back in 2020 after Stoke had become accustomed to life back in the second tier. It was there he enjoyed the best goalscoring return of his career, notching 19 goals in 38 Super Lig appearances in 2020-21 and a still-decent tally of 12 in year two.
That’s some return given he notched a total of 13 league goals across his last five seasons with Stoke combined.
There was also the time he went in net during a penalty shootout and came out on top. Brilliant.
Bafetimbi Gomis
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. You might see the odd banger do the rounds on Twitter, followed by that iconic celebration, and misremember Gomis as a late-Barclays era legend.
That’s not to say Gomis wasn’t a pretty good striker on his day. He earned 12 caps for France and was often fantastic during his peak Ligue 1 days at Saint-Etienne, Lyon and Marseille. Just ask Timothee Chamalet (yes, really).
But let’s be honest, he was invariably pretty rubbish for Swansea City. He averaged a goal every 256 minutes in the Premier League, with just 13 across two whole seasons.
After leaving Swansea in 2017, Gomis enjoyed a hell of a second wind at Galatasaray. He fired them to the Turkish Super Lig title in his debut season and won the Golden Boot with a tally of 29 goals. He then spent four years out in the Saudi Pro League before returning to Galatasaray to win another league title.
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Alexander Sorloth
To be fair, Sorloth’s up-and-down career is far too wild and eventful to be defined by flopping in the Premier League or shining out in Turkey.
After scoring 23 La Liga goals for Villarreal last season, Sorloth made a big-money move to Atletico Madrid and has been a key player for Diego Simeone’s title-chasers; the highlight so far being a famous last-minute winner away to Barcelona.
The 29-year-old Norway international is a rare example of a player who’s come back and done well in a major European league after time away to the relative wilderness of Turkey.
After scoring zero goals in 16 Premier League appearances for Crystal Palace, Sorloth couldn’t stop scoring with 24 goals in 34 appearances out on loan at Trabzonspor in 2019-20. That earned him a move to RB Leipzig, where he once again fell flat before kicking on in Spain.
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Enner Valencia
We’re not sure which of Valencia’s Premier League stints was more underwhelming. Eight goals in 54 games for West Ham or three in 21 at Everton.
The Ecuadorian stalwart dropped off the map for three years out in Mexico with Tigres UANL between 2017 and 2020. Then he signed for Fenerbahce and enjoyed the best years of his career, notching 59 goals in 116 outings.
He was particularly potent in front of goal in his third and final season, having scored 29 goals in just 31 Super Lig matches for Jorge Jesus’ side. They were pipped to the title by Gomis’ Galatasaray, but they did at least win the Turkish Cup that year.
Michy Batshuayi
Valencia wasn’t Fenerbahce’s hero in the 2023 Turkish Cup final. The man who hogged the headlines was his strike partner Batshuayi, who scored both goals in their 2-0 victory over Istanbul Basaksehir.
The lovably effervescent Belgium international may have struggled for goals at Chelsea and Crystal Palace, but he found his level in Turkey. Since 2021 he’s represented all of the Super Lig’s traditional ‘big three’ – Besiktas, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray – and consistently hit double figures.
As well as the Turkish Cup with Fenerbahce, he won a Super Cup with Besiktas and looks set to complete the set this season with Galatasaray. He struggled for opportunities and has recently departed for Eintracht Frankfurt, but he’ll qualify for a winner’s medal if – or when – they make it over the line.