Topal hangs up his boots
Veteran Turkish footballer Mehmet Topal announced his retirement from football on Tuesday.
During his career, the 36-year-old midfielder represented all of Turkish football's "big 3" - Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas.
Topal won 3 Super Lig titles, one with Galatasaray in 2008, another with Fenerbahce in 2014 and the last one with Istanbul Basaksehir in 2020.
In doing so, Topal became the first and only football player in history to win the championship with 3 different teams.
He started his playing career at Yeni Malatyaspor in 2000 before being signed up by TFF 1. Lig side Canakkale Dardanelspor in 2002.
After an impressive performance at Dardanelspor, he was snapped up by Galatasaray in 2006 at the age of 20.
He then moved to Valencia in 2010, playing 59 matches over 2 seasons.
The experienced football player, nicknamed "Spider", returned to Turkey in 2012 and wore the Fenerbahce jersey for 7 years, playing in 298 matches and scoring 24 times.
He joined Basaksehir in 2019, where he won his last Turkish title. After 2 seasons there, he signed a one-year deal with Besiktas, making 10 appearances.
Topal also represented the Turkish national team between 2008 and 2018, making 81 international appearances.