Tanju Çolak: We would play as a double striker with Osimhen, and Icardi would be on the bench

Former national football player Tanju Çolak, who came to his hometown of Samsun to support the "We Are Bound to Each Other by Heart Samsun, Target 1919 Blood Donation Campaign," made statements after donating blood. Inviting all citizens to donate blood, Çolak also commented on the current agendas of Samsunspor and Galatasaray.

"ICARDI AND OSIMHEN DO NOT HAVE A GOLDEN SHOE"

Claiming that if he were an active player today, he would be in the starting 11 at Galatasaray, Tanju Çolak said, "The statistics institute in Switzerland lists me among the 48 best football players in the world. If I were at Galatasaray right now, I would play in the starting 11. Very important strikers have come to Galatasaray. None of them have a Golden Shoe. None of them have a record as one of the 48 legends in the world. But I have all of these.

I am not saying this myself. Now I ask; does Icardi have a Golden Shoe? Does Osimhen have a Golden Shoe? Is he one of the 48 legends in the world? No. But are they great football players? Yes. Are they playing well under today's conditions? Yes. Are they doing their jobs well? Yes. Most importantly, they are making Galatasaray champions, friends. This is very valuable, very important. Now, one shouldn't look at them that way.

One must look at today's football. Would we play? We would. Would we score goals? We would. I mean, our skill has become second nature. Because we work very hard. For one thing, I work very hard. After every training session, I would practice for at least 45 minutes.

Goal finishing, volleys, headers, bicycle kicks; it is very important to be able to do these. Or rather, most importantly, it is important to love your job. If you love your job, you are successful, my friend. If you don't love it, there is no chance of being successful, none at all," he said.

"WE WOULD PLAY AS A DOUBLE STRIKER WITH OSIMHEN"

Stating that if he were playing actively in his prime, he would write himself directly into the starting 11, Çolak added, "It could be like this, we would play as a double striker. Osimhen and I could play together. Or if we saw that Osimhen was injured, I would play with Icardi. We would say, 'Tanju Çolak has aged, let Icardi and Osimhen play.' We would look at our path, look at the match, and if they score, we would applaud and be proud. The important thing is to be able to give something to the Turkish people. Notice that the age of those coming has also dropped. Osimhen came at 26, Icardi at 28-29. In the past, no football player under 32 would come to us. So there is a change. One must adapt to this change. The performance of Osimhen, Icardi, Barış Alper, and Yunus is very valuable," he said.

Çolak emphasized that Samsunspor had a successful season last year and that it was important for them to go 2 for 2 this season to prove that this success was no coincidence, wishing the red-and-whites success in Europe and other competitions.

News Source: İHA