The past season in the Turkish Super Lig brought mixed feelings for "Göztepe SK" from İzmir. On the pitch, the team missed out on participating in European tournaments, but from a financial perspective, the club recorded the most successful year in its history – a record revenue of over 30 million euros into the club's treasury.
"Göztepe" finished in 6th place in the Super Lig and remained only two points away from a quota for Europe, which left fans with a feeling of a missed opportunity. Nevertheless, the league's financial report shows that the season under the leadership of Stanimir Stoilov led to a serious jump in revenue – from television rights, ticket sales, and player transfers.
The announced 30+ million euros in proceeds include not only standard income from the Super Lig, but also transfer deals that are changing the face of the team. On social networks connected to "Göztepe", one can see numerous comments from fans who express concern about possible new summer outbound transfers, but at the same time acknowledge that financial stability is important for the future of the club.
Among the more significant deals is the sale of goalkeeper Mateusz Lis, who moved to "Lech" (Poznań) for 2 million euros and will play in the Champions League with the "Blue-Whites". Even before that, it became clear that central defender Heliton Jorge was leaving, Filip Krastev suffered an injury and his loan period expired, and Uğur Kaan Yıldız, as well as Ekrem Kılıçarslan, also parted ways with the club.
The management of "Göztepe" plans to continue with the restructuring of the squad. In the plans are potential sales of forward Juan, Nigerian Anthony Dennis, and versatile player Arda Okan Kurtulan. Another forward – Jefferson – will continue his career on loan for six months at the Serbian "Partizan" (Belgrade), with the decision made following the signing of Brazilian goalscorer André Henrique from "Grêmio" on a 4+1 year contract.
To compensate for the gap in the defense following Heliton's departure, "Göztepe" has reached an agreement with Noah Sonko Sundberg from "Aris" (Thessaloniki). Although the transfer has not yet been officially announced, expectations are that he will strengthen the defense and provide additional stability to the team in the next "Göztepe match" in the Super Lig.
The club emphasizes that there will be no "panic transfers". "The scouting network of the 'Sports Republic' company is working actively and we will have new additions. We also have confidence that our head coach Stanimir Stoilov will once again build a competitive, and why not an even stronger team?", the club stated in response to the media.
Thus, despite the disappointment of missing out on participation in Europe, the season under Mury Stoilov is becoming a key stage for "Göztepe SK" – the club is standing on record revenues, clearing and renewing the squad, and betting on a controlled transfer policy with the ambition to be even more competitive in the next championship.