John Terry on turkish clubs radar

Chelsea defender John Terry is being tracked by Turkish giants Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, with the Istanbul pair aware that the 32-year-old’s contract will have just 12 months left to run this summer.



According to Turkish sports daily Fanatik, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce are both firm admirers of Terry’s talents and spy an opportunity to tempt the former England captain to the Super Lig.



Terry has recently been the victim of squad rotation at Stamford Bridge this season and the veteran stopper appears to no longer be guaranteed a regular starting spot with the Blues.



The defender has insisted he is happy with the state of play at Stamford Bridge, but the opportunity to join a growing legion of former Premier League stars in Turkey could be a tempting one.



Galatasaray reached the Champions League quarter-finals this season and boast former Chelsea star Didier Drogba amongst their number, while Wesley Sneijder is now pulling the strings from midfield for Fatih Terim’s men.



Across the Bosphorus, Fenerbahce are also performing impressively, through to the Europa League semi-finals, where they face Benfica in the first leg of their tie this evening.



The Yellow Canaries are home to former Premier League performers Dirk Kuyt and Raul Meireles.



Terry would no doubt be offered a lucrative contract to head to Istanbul and start a foreign adventure in Turkey’s rapidly improving Super Lig.



The former England international is a product of Chelsea’s youth system and has enjoyed a hugely successful stint at Stamford Bridge, picking up three Premier League titles, five FA Cups, two League Cups and, memorably, the Champions League last season.

Riera: 'Galatasaray fans are 12th man'

Galatasaray left-back Albert Riera has praised Galatasaray's fans and has said that they are able to "win games" with their support.

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The former Liverpool winger said that football means everything to the Turkish side's fans and that he expects up to 15,000 to make the trip to the Bernabeu for the quarter-final of the Champions League against Real Madrid.



"Galatasaray's fans are the most fanatical [of all the clubs I've been at]," he told Marca. "If I had to choose just one of them, for their craziness and fanaticism, I'd stick with Galatasaray's.



"I've never seen anything like it in my life. These guys win games, I'm telling you. If the club is given 40,000 tickets then 40,000 fans travel plus a few more.



"They're talking about between 10,000 and 15,000 Turks travelling to Madrid and I believe them. It's insane how they live their football and what this tie means to them. Right now it means everything."



The first leg takes place in Madrid on Wednesday night.

Gala edge United in Turkey

A second-half header from Burak Yilmaz condemned Manchester United to a 1-0 away defeat to Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League.

Yilmaz climbed highest to meet a 54th-minute corner to inflict upon United their first defeat in Group H.



With United having already qualified as group winners, the win leaves Galatasaray hanging on to second spot before the final matchday in a fortnight.



With top spot already secure, Sir Alex Ferguson left many of his stars at home, with Nick Powell handed his first European start and a welcome return for Phil Jones after a knee injury.



The hosts had the better of the early exchanges, with Anders Lindegaard keeping out Yilmaz's drive from distance, before the Turkish forward headed over when unmarked midway through the first half.



United grew into the game and came closest to opening the scoring when Powell headed Tom Cleverley's corner against the bar two minutes before half-time.



Albert Riera tested Lindegaard again four minutes after the interval with a volley from distance which the United keeper did well to hold.



Lindegaard made an even better save shortly after to turn Felipe Melo's header over the bar, but from the resultant corner in the 54th minute, Galatasaray took the lead.



Selcuk Inan's delivered an outswinger from the right which Yilmaz attacked, outmuscling Darren Fletcher on his way to planting a header into the top corner, over Rafael on the far post.



United continued to be a threat on the counter attack, but Fernando Muslera remained relatively untroubled in the hosts' goal.



Ferguson threw on Ashley Young and Federico Macheda for the last 15 minutes, but Galatasaray almost doubled their lead moments later when Hamit Altintop's 25-yard drive was brilliantly tipped onto the bar by the diving Lindegaard.



United spent much of the last ten minutes on the front foot, with Josh King replacing Danny Welbeck, but Galatasaray held on and now travel to Braga on the final matchday in possession of the second qualifying spot in Group H.

Galatasaray sign Cris from Lyon

Galatasaray have signed Brazil centre back Cris from Olympique Lyon on a year-long contract, the Turkish league and Ligue 1 clubs said on Monday.



"Olympique Lyon announce they had agreed to break the contract of his defender Cris, who signed a one-year deal on Monday with Turkish club Galatasaray," Lyon said on their website (www.olweb.fr).



The 35-year-old will have his spell at champions Galatasaray automatically extended for a further year if he plays at least 25 games, the Turkish club said on their website (www.galatasaray.org).



Cris spent eight years at Olympique Lyon, whom he joined from Bayer Leverkusen in 2003, winning four French league titles and two French Cups.



He quickly became one of the best centre backs in the French league but struggled to find his top form after he suffered torn knee ligaments early in the 2007-08 season.



Cris has 18 caps for Brazil but never played in a World Cup.