Emre Belözoğlu's confessions on Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe

Former Fenerbahçe player and manager Emre Belözoğlu was a guest on the YouTube channel Kafa Sports.

Belözoğlu made highly anticipated remarks regarding his transfer process from Galatasaray to Inter and his career at Fenerbahçe.

Emre Belözoğlu's statements are as follows:

"WE COULD HAVE STAYED AT GALATASARAY"

"Inter scouted both Okan and me at that time. Actually, Okan's transfer developed a bit later. They watched me for a year, and after watching Okan for two matches, they said, 'We found a better player than Emre.' He stayed with me for two years, then returned to Beşiktaş. I stayed at Inter for another year and a half after him. The Inter transfer process was very challenging for us at that time. We could have stayed at Galatasaray back then, but after the successes in Europe, very serious offers were coming in. I don't want to evaluate it in terms of the executives, but if they had really wanted us to, we would have stayed at Galatasaray at that time."

"THE HARDSHIP OF JULY 3 WAS OURS, OTHERS ENJOYED THE BENEFITS"

"The best player I played alongside is Ronaldo, and in Turkey, it is Hagi. That squad (1999-2000) might be the best squad Turkey has ever seen."

"I have always felt valuable because I lived through the July 3 period. Sometimes people can forget; perhaps forgetting is the greatest blessing God has given to humans. July 3 was one of the most difficult periods for Fenerbahçe, that great institution. Perhaps it was the most difficult. The person holding the flag (Aykut Kocaman) and the players helping him hold it behind him... I find this photo very important. This was after visiting our senior executives, Aziz Yıldırım, upon his release from prison... It was very distressing; the hardship was ours, but then others enjoyed the benefits. Everyone took a share for themselves. When that happened, when this major operation was carried out against Fenerbahçe, I was a player there. We suffered great pain."

"THE 2011 TEAM COULD HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN EUROPE"

"The 2010-11 team was a very good team. That team chased the championship until the very last moment and won it. Every championship is as well-deserved as a mother's milk for every team and every player. I think this process was one that led to the polarization in Turkey reaching very disturbing levels. The 2010-11 team could have achieved great success in Europe with the team that would have been built afterward. Even the Sivas match where we became champions was a very difficult match. When people interpret things, they sometimes evaluate them based on what they see. Everyone thinks they are a very good football player. There is a situation where our profession is thought to be very easy, and this is very disturbing. Not everyone can play football at the top level."

"I don't think the football world is sincere at all. Presidents, executives, media members, some of our fellow players, managers..."

"I WANTED COACH EROL TO STAY"

"In the 2020-21 season, we came from 8-9 points behind in the last 10 weeks and narrowed the gap to 1 point. It fell to us for those 10 weeks. Coach Erol left; the management made the decision. I actually wanted Coach Erol to stay until the end of the season. Then they asked me to take charge of the team. I had actually told Coach Erol that I didn't want to be a sporting director. I wanted to continue either as a player or a coach, but when the request came from both the coach and the management, we started the job this way after my playing career. At that time, I could have played 5-10 matches as a player within the team, but Coach Erol didn't want that. During the separation process, I didn't want him to leave either. I thought we wouldn't be able to become champions, but he still deserved to stay until the end of the season. Sometimes, no, most of the time they treat us unfairly, but we stay silent anyway. We gave enough answers on the pitch."

"I LOVE ALEX VERY MUCH"

"I love Alex, like every Fenerbahçe fan. We understood each other very well on the pitch. Fenerbahçe had a very good backbone at that time. Volkan, Lugano, me, Alex..."

News Source: 12punto