On April 7, 2024, Deniz Gül was still representing Sweden’s under-21 team. It was on this day that he faced Malmö for the first and only time, the immediate opponent of FC Porto in the Europa League. That summer, the forward moved to Dragão and later chose Turkey to continue his career at the senior international level. Now, he may settle scores with the club from the country where he was actually born.
Starting in FC Porto’s last two Europa League matches, Deniz Gül will likely want to repeat his starting position 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 lineup, he was substituted at halftime.
André Villas-Boas had not yet been elected president of FC Porto – there were 20 days left – but he was probably already following the player, who became one of the first signings made after his inauguration at the helm of the dragons.
Just like collectively, Deniz Gül’s first year at FC Porto was not brilliant, scoring 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. In the Turkish national team, he also scored his first goal – in his fifth international match, against the multi-champion Spain.
On the other side of that international match was his FC Porto teammate, the Spaniard Samu, who might compete for his spot in the blue and white lineup for the match against Malmö. If that happens, or even if he comes off the bench, the now Turkish international will have the opportunity to settle scores with the Swedes.
