Turkey's third tier team Sakaryaspor announced they are trying to sign Tuncay Şanlı who played in his native town Sakarya's football team before rising to stardom. In a statement on Sakaryaspor's website, the club said, "Tuncay Şanlı wants to retire at Sakaryaspor.

The negotiations between him and our club will continue. After he returns from England on Sunday, he will meet our president, İsmail Gürses, again." Tuncay began his career with his local club, Sakaryaspor before joining Fenerbahçe in 2002. After winning three Super League titles with Fenerbahçe he left for English club Middlesbrough on a free transfer.

Tuncay spent two seasons with Boro and won the club's player of the year award in 2009 but he was unable to help them avoid relegation. Following their relegation Tuncay joined Stoke City in August 2009 for a fee of 5 million pounds. He was unable to earn a regular place under manager Tony Pulis and joined German side Wolfsburg in January 2010. He failed to settle in Germany and returned to England in 2011-12 with Bolton Wanderers. Tuncay then went on to play for Bursaspor and Qatari side Umm Salal. His final club is India's Super League Side FC Pune City.