A constellation of star footballers, including Mauro Icardi, Michy Batshuayi, Dele Alli and Maxi Gomez, all made their way to Türkiye during the 2022/23 summer transfer window that closed last Thursday.
Among the Turkish giants, Galatasaray was the busiest after a disastrous 2021/22 season, finishing the domestic league in the 13th position.
It signed several players, including Argentine forward Icardi from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), 2010 FIFA World Cup winner Juan Mata, Uruguayan midfielder Lucas Torreira from Arsenal, Portuguese midfielder Sergio Oliveira from Porto and Belgian forward Dries Mertens from Italy's Napoli.
Earlier this summer, the Lions sold Brazilian central defender Marcao to Spain's Sevilla for 12 million euros ($12.2 million). In addition, they sent Egyptian forward Mostafa Mohamed to French Ligue 1 side Nantes on loan.
According to the German football data website, Transfermarkt, Galatasaray spent 31.5 million euros on players while earning 13 million euros.
Beşiktaş, another football powerhouse from Istanbul, strengthened its squad by adding Portuguese midfielder Gedson Fernandes from Benfica, French right-back Valentin Rosier, Congolese forward Jackson Muleka, Everton's Dele Alli and Dutch forward Wout Weghorst from Burnley.
Turkish forward Cenk Tosun also returned to Beşiktaş from Everton and the club signed English winger Nathan Redmond on a free transfer.
Beşiktaş spent around 19.05 million euros while making around 10 million.
The Turkish trio of Emirhan Ilkhan, Ridvan Yılmaz and Serdar Saatçı left the Black Eagles.
Midfielder Ilkhan was sold to Italy's Torino for 4.5 million euros, while left back Yilmaz joined Scottish team Rangers for 4 million and defender Saatçı was purchased by Portugal's Braga for a 1.5 million euro transfer fee.
Canadian forward Cyle Larin, Croatian central defender Domagoj Vida and Brazilian midfielder Alex Teixeira left Beşiktaş after their contracts expired in July.
One of the title contenders in the Süper Lig, Fenerbahçe, bought players like Uruguayan winger Diego Rossi from the U.S.' Los Angeles FC, Brazilian defender Luan Peres from Olympique Marseille, Italian forward Joao Pedro, Brazilian midfielders Lincoln and Willian Arao and Turkish winger Emre Mor.
But the biggest surprise from the Yellow Canaries was the last-minute deal that saw Belgian forward Batshuayi arrive from Chelsea.
The club also signed Watford's Norwegian forward Joshua King on a free transfer.
South Korean defender Kim Min-jae, on the other hand, was a target for several European clubs with Napoli making the purchase from Fenerbahçe for 18.05 million euros.
Turkish midfielder Ozan Tufan, in the meantime, left Fenerbahçe for English Championship's Turkish-owned side, Hull City.
Marcel Tisserand was another Fenerbahçe player who left this summer. Fenerbahçe spent 29.81 million euros on summer signings but earned at least 30 million euros.
Defending Turkish champion Trabzonspor made several signings, including Egyptian winger Trezeguet from Aston Villa, Uruguayan forward Maxi Gomez from Valencia and Spanish defender Marc Bartra from Real Betis.
North Macedonian midfielder Enis Bardhi and Turkish forward Umut Bozok were the other Trabzonspor arrivals.
Lille's Turkish attacking midfielder Yusuf Yazıcı also returned to Trabzonspor as he joined his former club on loan.
The club spent 18.8 million euros on the new signings.
Trabzonspor sold Turkish defender Ahmetcan Kaplan to Dutch team Ajax, Danish forward Andreas Cornelius to Copenhagen and Turkish midfielder Berat Özdemir to Saudi club Ettifaq FC.
The Turkish team's Nigerian regular Anthony Nwakaeme left Trabzonspor once his deal expired.
The club earned 19.3 million euros after selling Kaplan for 9.5 million euros, Cornelius at 6 million euros and Özdemir at 2.4 million euros.
Galatasaray’s duo of Torreira and Yusuf Demir and Beşiktaş' midfielder Fernandes were the most expensive transfers this summer.
The Lions paid 6 million euros to Arsenal for Torreira and spent the same amount to snap up Austrian winger Demir from Rapid Vienna.
Like Galatasaray, Beşiktaş spent 6 million euros to add Fernandes from Portuguese club Benfica.
Additionally, Olympique Marseille received 5.3 million euros to let Brazilian defender Peres join Fenerbahçe.
Turkish Süper Lig clubs acquired a total of 243 players in the summer transfer window.
There were 138 footballers signed from 37 foreign leagues and 105 others from Türkiye.
Adana Demirspor, from southeastern Türkiye, made the most signings with 22 new players.
Nigerian winger Henry Onyekuru, Russian forward Artem Dzyuba and Ukrainian defender Yaroslav Rakitskyi were its big-name arrivals.
But the club's Italian star Mario Balotelli was sold to Switzerland's FC Sion for 2.62 million euros in August.
The Turkish top-flight's oldest signing was Serkan Kırıntılı. Ümraniyespor's Turkish goalkeeper is 37 years, 6 months and 25 days. He left Alanyaspor in July.
In comparison, the youngest signing was Enver Sarıalioğlu. The Istanbulspor midfielder is 18 years, 2 months and 14 days.
Sarıalioğlu joined the newly promoted Istanbulspor from Trabzonspor udner-19 team earlier this week.
