New Süper Lig season kicks off with new faces

ISTANBUL

Sports fans' yearning for football will come to an end this weekend with the start of the new Trendyol Süper Lig season.

Defending champion Galatasaray has made the most ambitious signings of the summer, while Fenerbahçe has assembled a star-studded squad to put an end to its longing for trophies.

The 66th season of the Süper Lig started on the night of Aug. 11 with Trabzonspor-Antalyaspor match.

Galatasaray begins its title defense at Kayserispor, while Fenerbahçe hosts Gaziantep on Aug. 13.

A total of 20 teams from 12 provinces will compete this season, with eight from Istanbul and two from Antalya. The first half of the season will end on Dec. 25, while the second half will start on Jan. 5 and end on May 19, 2024. In the season where 20 teams will sweat for the championship, the last four teams will be relegated to Trendyol First League.

The foreign player rule in the Süper Lig will be 8+3 as in the previous season. Teams will be allowed to license a maximum of 14 foreign players. These 14 players can be in the match squad, but only eight of them can play at the same time.

Sports fans will have the opportunity to follow many stars in the new season. Galatasaray, which has left its mark on the transfer window, has managed to keep Mauro Icardi, who played a big role in the last championship, in this squad, while also adding other stars such as Wilfried Zaha, Kerem Demirbay, Angelino, Cedric Bakambu, Tete and Halil Dervişoğlu.

Fenerbahçe is another team that has spent the transfer window at a fast pace as it looks to end its championship drought. The Yellow Canaries have attracted attention with the signings of Edin Dzeko, Sebastian Szymanski, Rodrigo Becao, Mert Müldür, Ryan Kent, Alexander Djiku, Dusan Tadic and Umut Nayır.

Beşiktaş had the quietest summer among the Istanbul teams. The Black and Whites bought Arthur Masuaku on a free transfer and signed Jean Onana, Emrecan Bulut, Ante Rebic and Daniel Amartey. Its campaign starts with a short trip to city rival Karagümrük on Aug. 14.

Adana Demirspor, the most colorful club in the league, also built an ambitious squad. Gravillon, M'Baye Niang, Dorukhan Toköz, Nani and Jovan Manev were added to the squad.

The additions look to have paid off for the Adana club, which beat Osijek 5-1 on Aug. 10 in a Europa Conference League third qualifying round first leg match.

The first Süper Lig test for the new squad will come on Aug. 13 at home against Rizespor.

Also in the opening week of the league, Konyaspor will host Istanbulspor, Kasımpaşa will play Ankargücü, Hatayspor will visit newcomer Pendikspor, Samsunspor will travel to Sivasspor and Alanyaspor will take on Istanbulspor at home.