‘I’m an ex-Liverpool star who swapped Besiktas for Galatasaray – I turned hated’

Former Liverpool star Ryan Babel was “heartbroken” when he returned to Besiktas as a hated Galatasaray player.

Babel was an exciting signing for the Reds in the summer of 2007, arriving in an £11.5million deal from Ajax as an already established Dutch international aged just 20. But he departed three-and-a-half years later having failed to live up to expectations.

His career would go on to feature several short stints in Germany, Abu Dhabi, Spain and Turkey, where he enjoyed the most success. He spent two years with Kasimpasa from 2013-2015.

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Babel then returned to the country in January 2017 to sign for Besiktas, endearing himself to their supporters with 22 goals in 62 appearances. But that good work was ultimately undone in their eyes when he swapped allegiances to Galatasaray in 2019.

“Obviously that move to Galatasaray didn’t go down well,” Babel exclusively told Ladbrokes Fanzone. “It was actually heartbreaking to play against Besiktas for the first time after that move.

“Because I’d gone from having all of their hearts, and returning to a stadium where I’d made so many great memories, to now being whistled and booed whenever I had the ball.

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“I didn’t go directly to Galatasaray from Besiktas, though. I went to Fulham first, but they still didn’t really like it!”

Babel spent the second half of the 2018/19 Premier League season at Craven Cottage, scoring five times which was not enough to help them stave off relegation.

He went on to explain his controversial switch in that summer’s transfer window wouldn’t have come about if he’d had his way at Besiktas, where off the field issues contributed to his exit.

“I never wanted to leave Besiktas, but the people on the board at the time, I felt, didn’t really deal with the whole situation in a respectful manner, and therefore I had to look elsewhere,” he continued.

“Now, if you could turn things back, and they could have been respectful, then I would have stayed at Besiktas. Unfortunately, fans don’t always know why players make certain decisions.

“But it’s very common in football that boards don’t make the right decisions and, ultimately, players leave. That’s the nature of the business, unfortunately.”