It has been claimed that Rodrido Bentancur (Tottenham Hotspur), who has recently been criticized for racial discrimination, could receive attention from Türkiye.
Turkiye media outlet ‘Krampong Sports’ reported on June 18, 2024 through social networking services (SNS) that Galatasaray, a prestigious Turkic player, may attempt to recruit Bentancur this summer.
Recently, Bentancur is a player who has received a lot of criticism among Korean soccer fans.
He was well known for his close relationship with Tottenham captain and Korean soccer legend Son Heung-min, so there were many domestic fans who liked Bentancur.
Bentancur was one of the players who comforted Son Heung-min when he suffered an orbital fracture during a game ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and it was unclear whether he would participate in the tournament.
Son Heung-min, who did not forget this, said when Bentancur returned from a long-term injury in October 2023 and made his comeback, “Bentancur is an incredible player who makes me smile,” and “We waited for him to come back, and I hope Bentancur is on the field today.” “I was excited when it showed up,” he said.
“Bentancur is one of my good friends. Even when I was injured last year, he supported me behind the scenes,” he added. “I am very grateful that Bentancur is back healthy.”
Korean soccer fans also know what Bentancur is to Son Heung-min and cheered him on when he was struggling due to injury, but recently, they felt betrayed when he discriminated against Son Heung-min and Koreans.
Bentancur made racist remarks on Uruguayan TV program
Bentancur recently appeared on the Uruguayan broadcast program ‘Por la camiseta’ and conducted an interview ahead of the 2024 Copa America.
At this time, he was asked by the interviewer, “I already have your uniform, so can you bring me the Korean uniform?”
Since the Korean that Bentancur knows well is Tottenham teammate Son Heung-min, the question was actually whether he could give Son Heung-min a uniform.
When Bentancur also heard the question, he asked, “Do you shoot?”
Afterwards, when the host said, “I like the world champion’s one,” Bentancur caused controversy by replying, “Or how about Sawney’s cousin. They all look the same anyway.”
Saying that all Koreans, including Son Heung-min’s, have the same faces was clearly a racist remark.
As the controversy grew, Bentancur hurriedly posted on his social media, “Sonny, my brother! I apologize for what happened to you. It was a very bad joke! I love you and I did not respect you or tried to hurt you or others.” He posted an apology saying, “I absolutely do not mean what I said! I love you, my brother!”
However, the fans’ anger did not subside easily.
Bentancur explained that the racist remark was a joke, and Tottenham, the club, seemed to be trying to brush aside the incident by not issuing any statement, inciting domestic fans.
Tottenham remain silent
Also, a question mark has been placed on Tottenham, who are planning to visit Korea this summer but are keeping quiet.
Tottenham will participate in the 2024 Coupang Play Series ahead of the 2024-2025 season in July.
Tottenham will face off twice in the Team K League on July 31, 2024, and against Kim Min-jae’s team, Bayern Munich, on August 3, 2024.
Even though he will soon be visiting Korea to meet his Korean fans, he has not expressed any particular statement, raising questions.
Among them, it was claimed that Galatasaray, a prestigious Turkic club, could make an offer to Tottenham to recruit Bentancur this summer.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Galatasaray try to sign Rodrigo Bentancur,” said Turkic journalist Burhan Jan Terci.
Galatasaray is a prestigious club representing the Turkiye Super Lig along with Besiktas and Fenerbahce.
It boasts the highest number of Süper Lig wins (24) in history, and also achieved 102 points (33 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses) in the 2023-24 season to become the league champion.
Galatasaray, which finished the season as Süper Lig champions, is looking for a player who can be a force in the summer transfer market in preparation for next season.
At this time, a Turkye journalist claimed that Galatasaray could try to recruit Bentancur to strengthen the midfield.
Uruguayan midfielder Bentancur debuted as a professional player at the prestigious Argentine club Boca Juniors and entered Europe by joining Italian Serie A Juventus in the summer of 2017.
Afterwards, he left Juventus and moved to Tottenham during the winter transfer market in January 2022, entering the Premier League.
Despite playing for Tottenham for two and a half seasons, Bentancur has only played 69 games so far, missing many games due to injury.
Also, since he is currently not being used much under coach Anji Postekogru, it is expected that he will not be a player who cannot be transferred if a specific offer is made.
Bentancur’s poor performance
Bentancur played a key role under coach Antonio Conte, who recruited him.
Recruited in the second half of the 2021-22 season, he became a starter as soon as he joined, appearing in 17 league games and providing 4 assists.
Afterwards, before being ruled out for the season due to a cruciate ligament injury in the 2022-23 season, he scored 6 goals and 2 assists in 26 games, scoring many goals despite being a midfielder.
However, he is not playing a very important role under newly appointed coach Postekoglou ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Although he appeared consistently in the second half of the game, he went back and forth between starting and replacing, and only had 1 goal and 1 assist in attack points.
In particular, in Bentancur’s absence, Yves Bissouma and Pape Sar took charge of the midfield, showing good performances under coach Postekoglou, so it will be interesting to see what decision Tottenham will make if a serious offer is made for Bentancur, who is coach Conte’s work. It is a prospect.
by 토토사이트