Sergen Yalçın

Early career and rise to stardom (1989–2001)

Sergen began at Beşiktaş in the 1991–92 season and quickly became renowned for his skill and creativity. His first spell at the club saw him score 46 goals in 158 games – no mean feat for a midfielder. However, it was known that Sergen lacked professionalism. After a 4–1 defeat to Samsunspor, he was publicly criticised by the Beşiktaş deputy president due to his careless lifestyle. Sergen responded to the club official by insulting him.

If he doesn’t leave the board, from tomorrow I will not turn out for training or for matches. Let him wear the No 10 shirt and play in the Beşiktaş midfield. Subsequently, Beşiktaş imposed a club-record fine of over £150,000. He was later forgiven after apologising, but the fine stayed. Sergen then demanded a new and improved contract which was denied by the board. As expected, Sergen departed from the club and became Turkey's record signing when he moved to İstanbulspor for £5.5m in the 1997–98 season. Thereafter, Sergen desired a move to the European fields and began contract negotiations with Internazionale and Milan. Terms could not be met with the Italian giants. After struggling with his weight due to months of inaction, İstanbulspor failed to offload him, so Jet-Pa (a sports company) bought his contract and arranged a loan deal with Fenerbahçe during the 1998–99 season, which involved him wearing a personalised shirt promoting the company. Under the coaching firstly from Joachim Löw…

Under-23s

Sergen played on the Turkey national under-23 football team at the 1993 Mediterranean Games, which they won by defeating France U21s in the semifinal and Algeria U23s in the final.

Senior team

Sergen made his senior debut in a friendly game against Macedonia in 1994. He would represent his nation in Euro 1996 and 2000, but injury prevented him from featuring at the FIFA World Cup in 2002. Sergen scored a total of 5 goals in 37 matches for the Turkey national team.

Euro 1996

UEFA Euro 1996 was Turkey's first tournament appearance since 1954 FIFA World Cup. Sergen played a key role in qualification, scoring two goals. Sergen featured in two matches at the finals where they fell at the first hurdle, pointless and goalless. After the tournament, Sergen received several offers from the European shores, including the likes of West Ham United. Sergen's refusal to move was made by the fact the clubs in pursuit were not bigger than Beşiktaş.

1998 World Cup

Sergen was fairly inactive in the national team during this period. In the opening round of 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification, Sergen came on as a second-half substitute against Belgium. Sergen went from hero to villain in the space of five minutes by contriving to get himself sent off after initially scoring a splendid half-volley on the edge of the box. Turkey went on to lose the match 2–1 at Brussels. Manager Mustafa Denizli saw Sergen as a liability and did not select him for…

Early career

Managing multiple Turkish clubs

In October 2008, following the resignation of Beşiktaş’s head coach Ertuğrul Sağlam, Mustafa Denizli was appointed as the new head coach, and Yalçın was initially set to become his assistant. However, due to licensing issues, Yalçın was assigned to coach the under-15 team while completing a six-month internship to upgrade his coaching license. Despite this, he was more involved with the first team's technical staff. In August 2009, Yalçın was placed in charge of the Beşiktaş A2 team, which performed strongly in the A2 League. However, he resigned in December 2009, citing head coach Mustafa Denizli’s lack of interest in youth development and reluctance to utilize young players. During the 2013–14 season, Gaziantepspor struggled in the league, with 2 wins, 2 draws, and 7 losses in the first 11 weeks. After parting ways with Bülent Uygun, the club appointed Yalçın as their manager on 15 November 2013. Under his management, the team played 15 matches, achieving 8 wins, 3 draws, and 4 losses. On March 29, 2014, Yalçın mutually terminated his contract with the club. When Yalçın left, the team was in 10th place. Despite failing to win after his departure, Gaziantepspor managed to stay in the league. On 23 December 2014 after Roberto Carlos left Sivasspor, Yalçın agreed to manage the team until the end of the season. In his first 18 matches, the team secured 7 wins, 4 draws, and 7 losses. On 15 May 2015 he extended his…

Yalçın is the first child of Günsel and Özer Yalçın. He grew up with two younger brothers, Gürsoy and Volkan. Sergen discovered his passion for football as a child, playing on the beaches of Kilyos. His father, Özer Yalçın, a former footballer, recognized his talent early and took him to Beşiktaş for tryouts, entrusting him to Serpil Hamdi Tüzün. Despite working at a hotel at the time, Özer supported his son's training until Sergen became independent as he started secondary school. Originally from Rize, Yalçın was a footballer who attracted a great deal of attention for his private life as much as his football career. Sergen's passion for horse racing often caused problems at the clubs he played for. His teammate Gökhan Keskin shared in an interview: "When he first came to Beşiktaş, they put him with me. He was only 17. They said, 'Look after this boy, he’s into horse racing.' Two weeks later, I found myself, Metin, and Sergen making horse racing bets together." At one point, his name came up during the "Barbie Operation," a prostitution investigation, where he had to testify. He was also investigated due to his gambling addiction and alleged connections with Sedat Peker. On an NTV program, Sergen admitted that Bayern Munich had considered signing him but decided against it after learning about these traits. Sergen also played in Acun Ilıcalı's football tournament "Devler Ligi," which featured former football stars. He appeared in an online advertisement for Yeni Rakı and…