Cihat Arslan

Cihat Arslan — Biography

Cihat Arslan was born on 9 February 1970 in Gömeç, in Balıkesir province. He is of Bosniak descent, with family roots in the Sandžak region. A 1.92-metre defender, he turned professional in 1988 out of the Ayvalıkgücü youth setup, played for Karşıyaka from 1990 to 1993, and won three caps for Turkey's under-21 side in 1991.

He joined Galatasaray for the 1993-94 season and won the league title there. His goal against Spartak Moscow on 13 April 1994 is remembered as the club's 100th goal in European competition and its first in Champions League group matches. He was loaned to Denizlispor, Eskişehirspor and Zeytinburnuspor, and also played for Gaziantepspor, Yozgatspor, Kocaelispor, Kayserispor and Kasımpaşa; with Yozgatspor he won the first division in 1999-2000. He was at Kasımpaşa from 2005 to 2008, captained them in the 2007-08 Süper Lig season, and retired at the end of it to take over the same team as coach.

As a manager he led Kocaelispor, Eyüpspor, Boluspor and Göztepe, and in 2013-14 took İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor to the first-division title and promotion to the Süper Lig. He also worked at Şanlıurfaspor, Balıkesirspor and, from 2015, Akhisarspor, then managed Čelik Zenica in Bosnia in 2019, Manisa, and Yeni Malatyaspor in 2022. In autumn 2025 he returned to Şanlıurfaspor for a fourth spell, and the parties separated in February 2026.