From Hammarby to FC Porto: Deniz Gül faces Malmö again in Europe | OneFootball

As of April 7, 2024, Deniz Gül was still representing Sweden’s under-21 national team. It was on that day that he faced, for the first and only time, Malmö, FC Porto’s immediate opponent in the Europa League. That summer, the forward moved to the Dragão and later chose Turkey to continue his career at the senior international level. Now, he may settle the score with the club from the country where he was actually born.

A starter in FC Porto’s last two Europa League matches, Deniz Gül will likely want to start again on Thursday, especially since it’s an opponent he knows well and has already faced – on that occasion, his Hammarby lost 2-0 in Malmö and, despite starting in the eleven, he was substituted at halftime.

André Villas-Boas had not yet been elected president of FC Porto – there were still 20 days to go – but he was probably already following the player, who became one of the first signings made after he took office as head of the Dragons.

Just like collectively, Deniz Gül’s first year at FC Porto was not brilliant either, having scored only two goals in 23 games. This season, however, the story has changed: praised by Francesco Farioli, he has already scored three goals in just 15 appearances. He also netted his first goal for the Turkish national team – in his fifth cap, and against the multi-champion Spain.

On the other side of that international match was his FC Porto teammate, the Spaniard Samu, who could compete for a spot in the Blues and Whites’ starting eleven for the match against Malmö. If that happens, or even if he comes off the bench, the now Turkish international will have the chance to settle the score with the Swedes.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.