Captain on the Kadıköy Road: Fenerbahçe in Tight Move for Hakan Çalhanoğlu

With days to go before Fenerbahçe's presidential election, the club's transfer atmosphere is very lively. According to information conveyed by Beril Böke and Sercan Hamzaoğlu on Tuesday morning, and then by Yağız Sabuncuoğlu, presidential candidate Hakan Safi has reached a verbal agreement with A National Team captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu and one of the leaders of the defence, Merih Demiral. It was learned that Safi personally met with the two players on Monday night at a closed venue. In his statement, "I brought two stars to Turkey, I agreed! Tonight I will meet at a closed place — I agreed with the two national players too", the names were initially hidden but it soon emerged that the two names were Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Merih Demiral. Names like Robert Lewandowski, Serhou Guirassy, Mason Greenwood, Zeki Çelik and Ümit Akdağ are also in Hakan Safi's transfer portfolio.

But what is interesting: Aziz Yıldırım also has Hakan Çalhanoğlu in his presidential program. According to Fotospor's news, the national star's name is on both candidates' transfer lists. That is, whoever wins the election on June 6-7, serious steps are expected to be taken for Çalhanoğlu. This is a rare picture for fans. Generally, presidential candidates compete with different transfers; but this time both fronts seem to have united around the same star. This also shows that Çalhanoğlu's probability of leaving Inter is really high.

Hakan Çalhanoğlu's situation also seems to have softened from the Inter side. The Italian club had responded "30 million Euros" to Galatasaray's offers of around 15-20 million Euros last summer. Now developments such as the Bodo/Glimt defeat in the Champions League, Inter's CL final loss, Cristian Chivu's rejuvenation policy and the injuries the player experienced between November-February changed the situation. Inter has now pulled the amount it demands for Çalhanoğlu into the 20-25 million Euros band. The player's contract ends on June 30, 2027 — meaning if Inter does not sell him this summer, there is a risk of losing him for free next summer. This also makes the club more flexible at the negotiating table.

Çalhanoğlu's performance with Inter this season was respectable on one side, and seemed cut off by injuries here and there on the other side. In the 2025-26 Serie A season, 22 matches, 9 goals, 4 assists — including the remainder of the season, a total of 47 official matches, 11 goals, 8 assists in all fronts. He continues to be seen as one of the strongest midfielders in Inter's history of all time. Penalty kicks are still nearly perfect: he has converted 34 of 39 penalties throughout his career (87.18% accuracy rate, one of the highest penalty conversion rates in world football). In 2024, Bayern Munich made an offer to Inter for him; Çalhanoğlu had told his agent at that time, "Talk to Inter, not me. I only do what Inter wants." This reminder shows how different the conditions triggering his return to Turkey are now.

Çalhanoğlu's career story is also special for Turkish football. Born on February 8, 1994 in Mannheim, Germany; he spent his youth years in the academies of Waldhof Mannheim and Karlsruher SC. He made his professional debut at Karlsruher SC in 2011, then continued his journey of Hamburg (2013-14), Bayer Leverkusen (2014-17), AC Milan (2017-21) and Inter Milan (2021-). With Inter in 5 seasons, he experienced 2 Serie A championships (2023-24, 2024-25), 1 Coppa Italia (2021-22), 3 Italian Super Cups and two Champions League finals (2023, 2025). At A National Team, he played 97 matches, scored 21 goals; he was in the squad at EURO 2016, EURO 2020 and EURO 2024. Turkey earned the right to participate in the 2026 World Cup after 24 years — Hakan Çalhanoğlu, as the captain of this squad, will play in the first group match against Australia on June 14.

If the transfer happens after Sunday, this will be one of the biggest return moves of recent years for Turkish football. After stars like Mertens, Icardi, İlkay Gündoğan, Leroy Sane (Galatasaray), Osimhen (Galatasaray), Mauro Icardi (Galatasaray) coming to Turkey, he will be one of Europe's top midfielders. From Fenerbahçe's perspective, it is a critical transfer to shortly close the championship drought (last championship 2013-14). Hakan Safi's offer announced to the players is also not relatively limited: in addition to the guaranteed fee the players receive, performance-based rewards such as a special bonus for every 5 goals, an extra bonus package for every 10 goals. For the Yellow-Blue community, June 6-7 may not only be a presidential election but also the cornerstone of one of the biggest transfer moves in club history.

Source: Yağız Sabuncuoğlu

Image: www.turkiyetoday.com