Romulo bomb! Transfer for a record fee

President Rasmus Ankersen, Sporting Director Ivan Mance and Sport Republic, who have been negotiating with Leipzig for weeks for the transfer of Romulo from Göztepe to the Bundesliga, one of the biggest leagues in Europe, reached an agreement for 23 million Euros. It was claimed that the deal includes 20 million Euros guaranteed and 3 million Euros performance bonus. If Romulo leaves for 23 million Euros, this historic figure of 1 billion 90 million TL in Turkish Lira will be the highest transfer of Anatolian clubs and the third most expensive transfer in Turkish football.

Fenerbahce's Ferdi Kadıoğlu was transferred to Brighton last year and Galatasaray's Sacha Boey to Bayern Munich for €30 million. Cenk Tosun went from Beşiktaş to Everton for €22.5 million and Arda Güler from Fenerbahçe to Real Madrid for €20 million plus bonuses. In Turkish football, the transfers of Elvir Balic, Vedat Muric and Gedson Fernandes also earned their clubs around €20 million. The 23-year-old Romulo, who was signed from Athletico Paranaense at the half-time of the 2023-2024 season and bought for €2.5 million last season, scored 22 goals and provided 13 assists in 46 games for Göztepe. The Brazilian striker will sign a contract with Leipzig until 2030. Leipzig sold Slovenian striker Benjamin Sesko to Manchester United for 85 million euros and turned to Romulo.

SPORT REPUBLIC MADE A DIFFERENCE IN 3 YEARS

Sport Republic, the international sports investment company that took over the football branch of Göztepe in 2022 from Honorary President Mehmet Sepil, who is still in the management, as the first foreign investor of Turkish football, has broken a record in 3 years. With the investment of Serbian businessman Dragan Solak, the chairmanship of US Henrik Kraft and the management of Danish CEO Rasmus Ankersen, the company, which manages Göztepe as well as the English team Southampton, has made the yellow-reds the standout team of Europe in transfers. While the young footballers discovered by Sport Republic shone and showcased at Göztepe, the investment yielded its first fruit with the transfer of Romulo, one of the records of Turkish football. The price of over 1 billion TL to be obtained from the Romulo transfer is higher than the total debt of many teams in Turkish football. Göztepe's Gürsel Aksel Stadium, which opened its doors in 2020, was built for 400 million TL. Göztepe fans demand that some of the transfer proceeds be spent on the construction of infrastructure facilities.

FENERBAHCE TICKETS ON SALE

Göztepe, who started the season in the Super League with a renewed squad by beating Çaykur Rizespor 3-0, will host strong rival Fenerbahçe on Saturday and tickets for the match will go on sale tomorrow. Ticket prices vary between 1500 and 6500 TL. It was announced that the guest tribune tickets will go on sale on Friday at 11.00 am for 1950 TL. Göztepe hosted Fenerbahçe, coached by world-famous coach Jose Mourinho, in the second week of last season and drew 2-2 with their rival. Fenerbahçe's first-week match against Alanyaspor was postponed due to the Champions League qualifier against Feyenoord.

FURKAN OUT ON LOAN

Göztepe sent 20-year-old midfielder İzzet Furkan Malak on loan to Swedish team IFK Haninge until the interim transfer window. Furkan played 1 league and 2 cup matches for the yellow-red shirt last season and went on loan to Southampton's U21 team in the interim transfer.

YOUNGEST FIRST 11

Göztepe, who have been competing in the Super League with a youth-dominated squad since last season, showed the difference from the first week this season. Göztepe's starting 11 against Çaykur Rizespor was the youngest squad of the week with an average age of 24.5. Dennis and Emersonn, who entered the field in the second half, are 21 and Sabra is 19.