Premier Liga Sensation: Gokdeniz Karadeniz

Artem Chobanian

As Russian Premier Liga teams grow and become stronger, more and more foreign players choose to play there. One of them is Gokdeniz Karadeniz, one of the best players for Trabzonspor. Last winter he quite unexpectedly moved to Rubin Kazan, a club in Russian Premier Liga that has never achieved any real form of success in its history. However, starting from the first games of the season Rubin has got maximum points in the league and even beat champions Zenit St Petersburg 1:2 in a very nervous and unusual game.

Player Profile: Karadeniz was born on 11th January 1980 in Giresun, Turkey. Height 169 cm, weight 66 kg. Position — winger.

Career:

1997 to 2008 — Trabzonspor, Turkey         

2008 — Rubin Kazan, Russia            

Since his transfer to Rubin, Karadeniz has not given a single interview, even to the Turkish journalists, but when his team won the last game against Khimki Moscow, he finally decided it was time to relax and meet the press. Below you will find Gokdeniz Karadeniz’s interview and we hope you will find this footballer interesting, you may be hearing a lot more about him before too long.

Interviewer. How do feel after the fifth successive victory?

Karadeniz. I think my debut in the team is very successful. And the start of the club this season is great as well.

I. Did you expect so much energy from yourself? And so many goals?

K. I am lucky. Russian defenders did not know my style of play, my favourite tricks and my scoring abilities as well. They will need time to understand how I play, so I guess I have time to score a few goals in more matches… I played the same way at Trabzonspor. However, I have to play more in Russia, where the football culture is quite different and I need time to adapt. I hope I will be even better when I feel like home here.

I. Tatarija is a Muslim region of Russia. Tatars are similar people to Turks. Did you consider that when you chose to move to Rubin Kazan?

K. Sure, I always think of that! I feel comfortable here. Tatars are our co-religionists and there many Turks too! Also I liked how Rubin representatives negotiated with my agent and me. They were very calm, polite and confident. I realised I should go there and play. Although I had other offers to consider: from Spain, England and even from the Russian club Saturn! I am happy Trabzonspor will get much money for me. I spent eleven years there and wish only good to my former club.

I. Is it true that Trabzonspor fans did not want to let you go?

K. That’s correct. Every year I had several offers from European clubs, but the pressure from the fans was enormous! I was their idol, the pride of the club… that’s why when we (the club and me) decided I should move to Rubin, I had to talk to the fans to explain to them that Trabzonspor needed the money and I would grow as the footballer as well.

I. There were rumors that Chelsea wanted to sign you…

K. No. I had offers from England but not from Chelsea…

I. Do you like betting on football?

K. I do not want to talk about that…

I. But Turkish papers wrote you had made bets…

K. You know, I am a professional football player and every time I go out on the pitch, I try to score and hope my team will win. I do not like it when people stir up my personal life, my past, especially when it’s something unpleasant… I know what you are talking about, but that story happened three years ago, let’s forget about it… I can only say I do not bet now.

I. Okay, let’s talk about the present then… Do you know that you and CSKA player Yuri Zhirkov were announced as the best Premier Liga players in March?

K. That was and is a great honour for my club and me! I have only been in Russia for one month and I am happy my team is in first place and I contributed to this!

I. That means you can play this way all the time…

K. You do not know me! Look up my file at Trabzonspor. It’s very important for me to show all I can in Rubin — that’s my job! That’s why I am here.

I. Do you think you can help Rubin to become the champion this season?

K. Why not? I got two Turkish Cups with Trabzonspor, but I want to become a champion for the first time in my life. I will be happy if this happens with Rubin. Moreover, our victory would be a great present for the club’s jubilee this year.

I. Who of the Turkish players in Russia gets more press — Fatih Tekke, Hasan Kabze or you?

K. How can I know about this? I can only say that after our victory in Saint Petersburg, your Turkish colleagues bombarded me with questions and requests for interviews. I had to switch off my phone with the Turkish number and I am lucky they do not know my Russian number yet!

I. When Fatih Tekke moved to Zenit, he promised to score many goals. But could not find his place in the team…

K. Do you know that once Tekke scored 34 goals and 17 of them were from my passes? That means he lacks a good assistant at Zenit or maybe he is just playing in the wrong position…

I. There are rumors that something goes wrong with the transfer money between Rubin and Trabzonspor…

K. Do not believe it! My agent and I can confirm that all transfers are going in on time day after day. Rubin follows the contract carefully and that proves once again that my choice was right. And also you should not believe the sum of my transfer contract that the Russian and Turkish papers provide. All these numbers are wrong, though the money was great and I am happy my transfer will let Trabzonspor earn enough to buy some good players instead of me.