Switzerland

Gokhan Inler - a Swiss boy in the Italian élite

Amid the disappointment and disillusionment that Swiss starplayers had to cope with after a promising transfer market one player seems to stand out of the crowd of anonimity.

Gokhan Masera Inler, this being his not-very-Swiss name, was born on June the 27th, 1984, in Olten, Solothurn, Switzerland by Turkish parents.
Growing up in the Basel youth team Inler was surprisingly offered a try by Fenerbahce Istanbul (at the time, coached by Daum) during their pre-season training in Germany.
However, despite playing part of a game and enjoying prospects of a 4-year contract with the Turkish team, Inler was rejected and was offered a 3-year contract by Aarau where he played 25 games, scoring 3 goals.
In 2006 he was transferred to FC Zurich (under Lucien Favre) where he played a total of 52 games scoring 3 goals. When Lucien Favre left Switzerland to coach Hertha he didn’t mask his interest in bringing the player to Germany.
However, Udinese was quicker. On the 4th of July 2007 the Italian team confirmed that Inler had signed a 5-year deal and 3 months later, Alessandro Calori, a former Udinese captain, stated that Inler was the most pleasant surprise in this new Udinese team.
He scored his first goal against Torino (see video) on the 31st of October.

Yet, at the beginning of 2008 the transfer market turned Inler’s name into a redundant one.
Internazionale, Juventus, Lazio and Liverpool seem to be interested in signing the player.

In January Udinese stated that the player was not going to be transferred.
But how can that be now that Gazzetta dello Sport (the leading Italian sports newspaper) awarded the Swiss player with a second place in a “Best Foreign Player” list, immediately after Sissoko and towering above the likes of Juan, Lavezzi and Pato.
He’s second in the list of player who’ve played the most (3302 minutes, 3415 for Atalanta’s goalkeeper Coppola).

However, Inler states: “I don’t want to look too far, presently I’m at Udinese and it’s the only club I care for right now. I’m part of a good young team with a very interesting project”.

Inler has become a pillar of the Swiss National Team and has played 13 games scoring 1 goal.