Erhan Önal

Erhan Önal (born 3 September 1957 in Turkey) is a Turkish retired footballer.

Erhan Önal
Personal information
Date of birth 3 September 1957
Place of birth Turkey
Position(s) Defender, Midfielder, Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
-1978 FC Bayern Munich 18 (1)
1978-1982/83 Standard Liège
1981/1982 Fenerbahçe S.K.→(loan)
Türkgücü München
1985-1992 Galatasaray S.K. 184+ (12+)
National team
1979-1987 Turkey 12 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Onal was the first Turkish immigrant in Germany to play in the Bundesliga.[1]

In 2015, he stated that the mentality when he went on loan to Fenerbahce was "'Erhan came, he should play, the team should come and sleep".[2] Onal also said that the money he brought was a problem for everybody else and that the facilities were much worse than in Germany.[2]

While playing for Standard Liege, Önal received an offer from Bayer Leverkusen. However, the transfer never happened because Liege kept his transfer fee to high. In response to this, he left for amateur club Türkgücü München, causing some people to assume he retired.[2]

Despite playing for the Turkish national team, he considers himself to be Bavarian and speaks better German than Turkish.[3]

References
  1. Das erste türkische Migrantenkind in der Bundesliga: Erhan Önal soccer-warriors.de (Archived)
  2. İlk gurbetçi futbolcularımız fourfourtwo.com.tr (Archived)
  3. Ein Türke mit bayerischem Dialekt: Torjäger Önal abendblatt.de
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