Despite claims to the contrary, Ridvan Yilmaz has never felt the need to talk Turkey on a return to his motherland. And especially not now that he has finally got to grips with the local lingo here in Scotland.
The former Beskitas full-back’s time at Rangers has had more ups and downs than the famed seven hills of his home city Istanbul. Signed by Gio van Bronckhorst in the summer of 2022, Yilmaz arrived carrying the heavy burden of a £3.5million transfer fee. That would have been difficult enough to navigate past without the language and injury issues that have weighed him down further.
No wonder then that media back in Turkey are forever reporting he is on his way back up the road, linking him with everyone from his boyhood club to local rivals Galatasaray and Fenerbahce at one time or another. But those stories – which again resurfaced in the build up to Monday’s transfer deadline amid claims of a €4million loan with option to buy package – were never given serious consideration.
And having finally got his tongue around English while overcoming his latest injury set-back, Yilmaz insists he’s now happy to call Ibrox rather than Istanbul his home. The 23-year-old said: “I love this country and the people here. When I arrived I couldn’t speak English and didn’t know anything about Scotland — but everyone at the club was so helpful.
“It was tough at the start but now everything is normal. I feel Scottish because of what everyone has taught me!
“I spoke to Tugay, who obviously used to play at Rangers, about the club and living in Scotland. He told me so many nice things and everyone is always happy. When I arrived here, I saw he was right.
“I can’t say it has gone as well as I had hoped because at this club you always want to be the champions. We haven’t done that yet when I have been here.
“We always try our best and I can assure everyone that the gaffer and my teammates want to achieve that. I think I’ve developed since coming here. The coaches I have worked under have really helped me.
“Besiktas is a big club in Turkey and I spent 13 years there. I grew up there but I was a boy and now l am a man. I want to be the best player I can be. l love this club and my team-mates. I’m happy to be here.”
Yilmaz has settled in Scotland – but he’s found himself moved about by boss Philippe Clement lately. With Gers down to the bare bones, the left-back has found himself having to cover slots in midfield and on the opposite of defence as Clement scrambled to plug holes in his line-up.
But that’s been no problem for a player who sat out four months of the season with a torn thigh muscle. He said: “I am feeling good after my injury. I’ve played left-back, right-back and on the left wing.
“I’ve spoken to the gaffer about playing in different positions and said to him that I was happy to play for the team. It doesn’t matter where I’m playing, the most important thing is being able to help my teammates. Everything is good right now.
“l always feel confident when I play left-back but I think I’ve done quite well at right-back and on the wing. Of course, it is tough to play in a different position as your brain wants to do the things it would normally do. I’m used to playing on the left but I try to do my best to adapt to wherever I have to play.
“We have a few injuries right now and the boys are working hard to get back. We all want to stay fit but sometimes it happens. You just have to step up. I’d never played right-back before this season and it wasn’t easy for me. I’m used to playing on the left, but I think I did well and the most important thing was helping the team.
“When the gaffer said to me about playing on the right, said it was fine and I believed in myself. If he wants to play me at centre-back I would play there and do the best I could.
“It is tough to come back from an injury but what I try to do is learn from any bad things that happen to me. I’m doing everything I can to stay fit and to look after my body. Sometimes you can’t run away from your destiny but I always look after myself.”
Yilmaz has suffered a small set-back after limping off against Manchester United in Gers’ recent Europa League trip to Old Trafford. But he’ll be back soon and is looking forward to playing a part when Gers’ resume their continental campaign in next month’s last 16 tie.
“I enjoy playing games in the Europa League and they are more open games which is what I like,” he told Gers’ match-day programme. “We’ve done well so far and have played some top teams.
“Playing at Old Trafford was great. It’s a historic stadium and we had so many fans down there. I could hear them the whole game. It was great to go up against some top players and we nearly got a point. It was so unlucky but I think we did well.
“It shows how far we’ve come that we can compete against these teams. Against Tottenham we did very well and I was so proud of the team that night. Spurs are a good side. We believe we can have a good run in Europe and we want to go as far as we can. We can be proud of what we’ve achieved so far.”
On the home front, Gers trail Celtic by 10 points but Yilmaz added: “We’re fighting to win trophies. We’re behind in the league but everything is possible. Last season we closed the gap and that can happen again. We want to make our fans happy so we’ll see what happens.”