Tugay Kerimoğlu

Who is Tugay Kerimoğlu?

Tugay Kerimoğlu is a Turkish former footballer who played the majority of his career for Galatasaray and Blackburn Rovers. Primarily a deep-lying playmaker in midfield, he was also competent as an attacking midfielder or playing in the holding role. Continually recognised for his ability he was highly rated in the football industry. In 2000, former Romanian legend Gheorghe Hagi rated him as one of the finest ball-playing midfielders in Europe, and in 2006, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had suggested that if he were ten years younger, Tugay's ability would make him an ideal player for the Old Trafford team. When Tugay's manager at the time, Mark Hughes, was asked if he too wished Tugay was ten years younger, his answer was "No, because if he was, he'd be playing in a Barcelona shirt." He was the coordinator of the Galatasaray youth academy, after a short spell working with Mark Hughes at Manchester City.