Arif Erdem

Arif Erdem — Biography

Arif Erdem (born 2 January 1972 in Istanbul), who comes from a family of Albanian descent, is a retired Turkish football manager and former professional player who played as a forward. Starting his career with local club Zeytinburnuspor in 1990, he went on to a 15-year professional career, making 341 league appearances and scoring 106 goals, finishing as joint top scorer of the Süper Lig with İlhan Mansız in the 2001-02 season.

During his 14 years at Galatasaray, Erdem won seven Süper Lig titles and five Turkish Cups, along with the UEFA Cup in 2000. He earned 60 caps and scored eleven goals for the Turkish national team, and was part of the squad that finished third at the 2002 World Cup. After retiring as a player he moved into coaching, managing İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor during the 2011-2012 season.

Following the 2016 coup attempt, Erdem faced allegations of ties to the Gülen movement; he was reported to have first fled to Greece and was later spotted in the United States in early 2020, with Turkey's Ministry of Justice requesting his extradition. In July 2026, Galatasaray revoked his club membership on the same grounds.