Michael Bradley’s Transfer To Galatasaray Appears To Be Step Down

Galatasaray is one of Turkey’s two biggest clubs, along with Fenerbahce, and the two clubs make up one of the world’s most intense and fascinating rivalries. Just two weeks ago the club moved into Turk Telekom Arena, a beautiful new stadium that seats over 55,000 people and can stack up with nearly any ground in Europe. If you have searched YouTube for videos of crazy soccer fans before, you’ve probably come up on video of Turkish fans and even Galatasaray fans. Unfortunately, the club hasn’t lived up to its history recently and sit all the way down in ninth place in the Super Lig, a league that doesn’t rank very highly to start with.

The UEFA coefficient ranks ranks Turkey’s Super Lig as Europe’s 10th best league, a spot behind the Netherland’s Eredivisie. Two and a half years ago, Bradley was playing for a successful Heerenveen club and netting 18 goals in Holland. Following that breakout season, Bradley took what most agreed was a step up to ‘Gladbach in the German Bundesliga. While ‘Gladbach has spent nearly all of the last two and a half seasons battling relegation, they have stayed up and competed in one of the world’s best leagues. Bradley has been competing in one of the world’s best leagues and his game has improved as a result.

Now, at 23-years-old, where there is plenty more room for improvement, Bradley will most definitely take a step down in leagues. The sole spot for improvement in stature that Bradley could make moving from the Bundesliga to the Super Lig would be the opportunity to play in Europe, possibly in the Champions League. The problem is Galatasaray sits ninth in the table and has not finished in the top two in the last few seasons.

One positive of Galatasaray is that they are one of the country’s biggest clubs and can get exposure with Galatasaray for another move in a couple years, but even that exposure is not better than the exposure he was getting in the Bundesliga. If reports are to be believed, Sunderland showed interest in the midfielder, as did other Bundesliga clubs so it is not as if he was devoid of options.

If nothing else, you can bet that Bradley will be living very comfortably in Istanbul. Besides it being one of the world’s best cities, Turkish clubs and Galatasaray in particular are known to pay very well and set up very comfortable living arrangement. From a lifestyle respective, Bradley has found himself a gem of a location.

UEFA coefficients aren’t god’s word and certainly have their flaws, but there has to be concern about one of the top Americans taking a perceived step up from the continent’s ninth best league two and a half years ago, playing well and improving his stock, and now moving to the continent’s 10th best league. From a fame and stature standpoint, Galatasaray is miles ahead of Heerenveen, but the quality of competition won’t be much higher and this is a comparison to Bradley’s situation two and a half years ago, not even where he is now.

All in all, this is a curious move for Bradley that can best be described as a sideways move if Galatasaray makes it to Europe. With Bradley’s contract in Germany set to expire in the summer of 2012, it is not unrealistic to expect Bradley to have been able to find a club in a league better than Turkey this summer. He could have also spent another 18 months in the Bundesliga and been able to move on a free transfer, when he would certainly be the target of several clubs in Europe’s top league. There are positives in Bradley’s move to Galatasaray, but it appears as if it is a step down and a sideways move at best when his stock should be highest.