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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Mark Walker

Galatasaray 'evaluating' Ridvan Yilmaz as Buruk confirms Rangers scouting mission

Galatasaray boss Okan Buruk has admitted Rangers full-back Rıdvan Yılmaz is one of three players the Turkish giants are monitoring.

The international left-back was signed by Giovanni van Bronckhorst in a £5.3 million deal from Besiktas in the summer, but he's had to be content at being a back-up for World Cup semi-finalist Borna Barisic and has made just two league starts since joining.

His agent, Necdet Ergezen, insisted last week Yilmaz was happy at Rangers and had no intention of returning to his homeland yet.

But reports in Turkey have suggested the Istanbul side are preparing an offer to land Yilmaz on a six-month loan deal which would include an option to buy.

And manager Buruk has revealed Yilmaz is on his radar as he prepared his team for the resumption of their season at a training camp in Antalya, after namechecking the Rangers man, along with their other reported targets - Westerlo's Halil Akbunar and Brighton's Deniz Undav.

He said: "As yet, we haven't made a formal move for any player, but we are watching a lot of them.

"With regards to the ones mentioned - Rıdvan Yılmaz, Halil Akbunar and Deniz Undav - they are all good players and we are evaluating all of them. We have all their matches followed.

"Perhaps things will become more clear in January, but we have not had a meeting with any of them at the moment."

However, Yilmaz' representatives insisted he would not be returning to Turkey so soon after signing in Glasgow.

"It should not be forgotten that Rıdvan's transfer process was not very happy this summer," his agent told Gazete Damga. 

"This is a project. We stand behind this, both me and the player.

"We did not take Rıdvan to Europe to return him to Turkey after 5 months."

Yilmaz has played seven times for Rangers so far this season. He has featured in the Champions League, Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Premiership.

The full-back is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury.


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