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The current issues between Ömer Faruk Beyaz and the Fenerbahce board and by proxy the Fenerbahce fans once again show the underlying problems in the country regarding youth players.
ÖFB is one of the biggest talents to play in the Fenerbahce youth teams, currently just 17.
ÖFB is one of the biggest talents to play in the Fenerbahce youth teams, currently just 17.
Back in 2018 when he was just a 15 year old and had scouts from Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Real Madrid running after him and trying to sign him, Ali Koc signed him on a 3 year professional contract and secured his talents for the coming years.
Since then his career has been filled with firsts.
He made his debut in the 1-3 loss againt Trabzonspor in the Turkish cup, then made his debut in the league replacing Tolgay Arslan and started his first game a week later all before he turned 17.
He made his debut in the 1-3 loss againt Trabzonspor in the Turkish cup, then made his debut in the league replacing Tolgay Arslan and started his first game a week later all before he turned 17.
The hype around him reached its peak when Emre Belozoglu, a legendary figure in Turkish football, played his last game in his professional career and was substituted.
He went over to ÖFB and put the captaincy armband around his arm, making him the youngest captain in FB history.
He went over to ÖFB and put the captaincy armband around his arm, making him the youngest captain in FB history.
The match worn jerseys were put in a frame and auctioned off by Fenerbahce,reaching an unbelievable amount of ₺2.1 million.
The hype around the so called next best thing pretty much reached boiling point around this time.
Fenerbahce ended the 19/20 season a disappointing 7th.
The hype around the so called next best thing pretty much reached boiling point around this time.
Fenerbahce ended the 19/20 season a disappointing 7th.
So the season after Ali Koc pulled all the stops to make sure the season wouldn't end the same way.
He brought over ex player current manager Erol Bulut over from Alanyaspor, transferred old legendary players in Gökhan Gönul and Caner Erkin and many more to create a strong team.
He brought over ex player current manager Erol Bulut over from Alanyaspor, transferred old legendary players in Gökhan Gönul and Caner Erkin and many more to create a strong team.
Problems started at this point for ÖFB because the previous season he was able to play minutes because the team already lost the battle for the championship, to add to this their midfield wasn't that strong rotation wise so he could pick a minute here and there.
Now with the transfers of Sosa, Pelkas, Mert Hakan Yandas and a great rise in performance by Ozan Tufan he was pretty much relegated to 5th choice on the midfield.
A team aspiring for a championship couldn't risk playing a young player to appease his need for minutes.
A team aspiring for a championship couldn't risk playing a young player to appease his need for minutes.
To add to this, Turkish teams tend to not play their youth players, preferring to play foreign players and give them a disproportionate amount of minutes when you compare them to each other.
Around this time cracks between ÖFB and FB started to appear, with the young player only having a year left on his contract talk started on social media about how his contract needed to be extended to prevent a Mustafa Kapi situation.
Mustafa Kapi was a young prospect at Galatasaray that pretty much lived the same scenario, made his debut at 16 years old and was touted as one of the biggest talents of Turkey.
When playing time lacked he chose to leave on a free, creating a rift between him and the loyal fans.
When playing time lacked he chose to leave on a free, creating a rift between him and the loyal fans.
As fans kept asking for a new contract, FB started the season better than before due to transfers and had a renewed pressure on them to win the championship.
All of this led to ÖFB only playing a total of 7 minutes all season.
All of this led to ÖFB only playing a total of 7 minutes all season.
With the recent image of talents leaving their youth system and finding success elsewhere, the biggest being Merih Demiral who was never given a chance in the senior squad and left to reach huge success away from FB, fans started to become anxious.
Meanwhile it seems ÖFB and the team couldn't find a mutual agreement on a new contract, with FB being in championship mode ÖFB's playing time would diminish by the day and FB's track record of promising youngsters not reaching their potential was the cherry on top.
Emre Belozoglu revealed yesterday that the talks between ÖFB and the team didn't go the way he wanted, ÖFB was on his way out and it pained him to say that when you would look back at the history of the club he would always be the youngest player to captain the team.
After this revelation fans on social media started to attack the young player saying that he is making the mistake of his life.
The question is if Fenerbahce will ever lose the label that they are a team where young players' promising careers get cut short.
The question is if Fenerbahce will ever lose the label that they are a team where young players' promising careers get cut short.
The recent performances of players like Eljif, Altay won't hide the fact that there are dozens of promising youngsters that were lost to the ether because they never could get their playing time at Fenerbahce.
Time will tell of Ömer Faruk Beyaz made the right decision.
Time will tell of Ömer Faruk Beyaz made the right decision.
