Fenerbahçe President Aziz Yıldırım recently gave an exclusive interview to Turkish newspaper Akşam and revealed the club's future plans. Yıldırım addressed several issues from transfers to stadium renovations; from the club's rising budget to this season's Turkcell Süper Lig campaign. "We will win the Championship this season and then we will transfer at least two or three superstars to Fenerbahçe," President Yıldırım said.

The Yellow Canaries opened the doors for Akşam Editor-in-Chief İsmail Küçükkaya and sports columnist Alaattin Metin, as Fenerbahçe President Aziz Yıldırım gave an exclusive tour of the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, whilst giving them a detailed insight on the club's future plans.

"Turkey is among the Top 10 countries in world football and we're in the top five in Europe," Yıldırım said when asked to pinpoint Turkey's place in European football and on the global scale. "As for Fenerbahçe, we're in the Top 20. And in the next five years, we've set ourselves the goal of entering the top ten teams," he continued.

"We have a global brand in our hands. Fenerbahçe was also a glorious club before we arrived, but we've brought the club's $16 million budget up to $200 million," mentioned President Yıldırım. "Next year, we'll take it up to the $300 million level," he said.

"Currently, Fenerbahçe has 17 league titles. Our 20th Turkish Championship will add a great deal to our brand value," stated Mr. Yıldırım when reminded about his promise to win three back-to-back Turkcell Süper Lig championships. "You can't live life without setting targets for yourself. You need to make a claim for yourself," he added. 

"I gave my word with all my belief. I have full faith in Aykut Kocaman, Christoph Daum and all my players," said Aziz Yıldırım. "We have the best players in Turkey; the best Turkish players and the best foreign players," he commented. "This year, we're definitely going to win the league title. You'll see. There's more to come, the team is in good shape," confidently said President Yıldırım.

Aziz Yıldırım also adressed the question as to why Fenerbahçe had not made a lot of transfers in the January window. "We didn't make any transfer during the mid-season window, because we already know the value of each player wearing the Fenerbahçe shirt," he answered, also adding that top European sides such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Internazionale and Chelsea had also passed up on the winter transfer season.

"Teams which have big targets can't transfers big superstars during the mid-season. Nobody would sell a good player... But you can get what you want at the end of the season," explained the Fenerbahçe chairman. Aziz Yıldırım further stated that Fenerbahçe was the club that raised the stakes in Turkish football, notably with big signings like Nicolas Anelka and Roberto Carlos.

"For this reason, we will be making our transfers at the end of the season. We will bring at least two or three superstars to Fenerbahçe. They will be world-class stars that no one would even guess they would come to Turkey," revealed the Yellow Canaries chairman.

Fenerbahçe President Yıldırım also spoke about the current squad and commented that they had the potential to be successful both in domestic and in European competitions. "If our squad is motivated enough, they can also be successful in Europe. Right now, the footballers are playing on 40% capacity. If they take this up to 60%, then no one can stop us," said Aziz Yıldırım.

Mr. Yıldırım also explained why winning the Turkcell Süper Lig was the team's main priority. "Winning the Turkish Championship is very important in terms of financial support. In Europe, the main target is always the Champions League. There's not a lot of money in the Europa League, but rather it has a motivational aspect to it," he explained. "For us, making the club even bigger goes through having a solid prescence in the Champions League and for this reason winning the Turkish Championship is the mid station," added President Yıldırım.

Aziz Yıldırım also spoke about his plans to renew the deteriorated pitch at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium. "Our initial goal after May 15th is to fix the pitch and make it heated. We're going to lift up the grass and make our field match the quality of our stadium," he revealed. President Yıldırım also spoke about the expensive pitch reparation system the club had recently implemented in the stadium. 

"We brought a system used in 42 stadiums across Europe. The heaters cost us € 400,000. The grass was in better shape, but the poor weather conditions prevented a proper reparation. This year's rainfall in Istanbul was three times the amount it was predicted. Also it would have been much better if we didn't have any cup games in between," explained President Yıldırım. "Plus, we will also be making some important arrangements around the outside of the stadium. All of the plans are ready and waiting. We will press the button as soon as the games are over," he further added.

"Fenerbahçe is a very important brand in Turkish football. We've quickly become a big corporation," said Aziz Yıldırım, speaking about the success of the club's various affiliates such as Fenerbahçe TV, Fenercell and Fenerium. "Today, Fenerium's total revenue is $ 40-45 million. We have 12,500 different items on sale. It has turned into a giant factory. We will soon be opening ten more stores, making it a total of 76 Fenerium stores," explained the Yellow Canaries chairman. "We're an administration that thinks about the future, not just today. Right now we are making plans for the next ten years," revealed President Yıldırım. 

Fenerbahçe President Aziz Yıldırım also defended that the foreign player quota should be abolished and stated that the Turkish Football Federation should financially support referees well enough so they don't have to work in other jobs. Mr. Yıldırım also spoke about John Bilton's appointment at the Fenerbahçe Youth Academy and mentioned that as a pioneer club in Turkish football, they were ready to help other Anatolian teams in youth development.

Aziz Yıldırım lastly pointed out to the rising success of Anatolian teams, such as Kayserispor and Bursaspor and stated his belief that there soon would be a team from Anatolia winning the Turkish Championship. "TV rights and sponsorships have saved Anatolian teams from poverty. There are some very good teams in Anatolia and one of them will also win the Championship one day. New stadiums should be built, 10-15,000 seaters according to the location and requirements of each city. UEFA criteria has to be applied in all clubs," commented Fenerbahçe President Yıldırım.  

(Photo courtesy of Fenerbahce.org & Akşam)