The Turkish Football Federation have announced a relaxation of their foreign player rule amid a big spending summer.
Turkish Super Lig sides have spent a record amount on huge names like Mohamed Salah and Romelu Lukaku, and some clubs have paid a price.
In the Turkish Cup there is a long-criticised ’10+4 rule’ capping the number of foreign players.
It allows a maximum of 14 foreign players in a team’s squad, as long as four of them were born on or after January 1st 2003.
The decision was announced on Wednesday with many clubs complaining about having to leave out new signings and potentially nullify contracts.
Under TFF regulations a player who is effectively excluded from a club’s sporting plans may have grounds to seek a justified termination of his contract.
If that happens, the club can lose both the player and any potential transfer fee without receiving compensation.
Reports claim Super Lig sides voted 15-3 in favour of temporarily relaxing the rules.
Despite the change, it appears it won’t apply in the Super Lig where teams who haven’t planned their squads accordingly may find themselves in trouble.
However in the league, the +4 part of the rule doesn’t apply, easing matters, as 14 foreign players of any age can be included.
Super Lig sides have spent an estimated €313million at the time of writing, and here are the most valuable of those, as per transfermarkt.
Most valuable Turkish Super Lig signings 2026/27
| Player | Market value | Joined | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mason Greenwood | €55m | Fenerbahçe | €39m |
| Dušan Vlahović | €35m | Besiktas | free transfer |
| Aleksey Batrakov | €28m | Galatasaray | €25m |
| Orkun Kökçü | €25m | Besiktas | €30m |
| Lesley Ugochukwu | €22m | Galatasaray | €3.52m |
| Mohamed Salah | €22m | Trabzonspor | free transfer |
| Sidiki Chérif | €18m | Fenerbahçe | €18m |
| Leandro Trossard | €18m | Besiktas | €18m |
| Kassoum Ouattara | €12m | Besiktas | €8m |
| Nathan Aké | €12m | Fenerbahçe | €8.17m |
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