Former Turkish international Okan Buruk was appointed Galatasaray coach for two seasons on Thursday, the Istanbul club said in a statement.
After the departure in January of star coach Fatih Terim, his successor at the helm of Galatasaray, the Spaniard Domenec Torrent, former assistant to Pep Guardiola, was unable to improve the results and was dismissed at the end of a disappointing end to the season.
The Istanbul “Lions”, the most successful team in Turkey (22 league titles), finished 13th in the league, the worst ranking in their history.
Okan Buruk is no stranger to Galatasaray. Trained at the club, he wore his yellow and red colors for 12 seasons.
He notably won the UEFA Cup, ancestor of the Europa League, in 2000.
“Welcome home!” Galatasaray said in its statement.
Having become a coach, the 48-year-old ex-midfielder notably won the Turkish championship title in 2020 with Istanbul Basaksehir, a first for this other Istanbul team.
