Baris Alper Yilmaz ahead of Turkey's 2026 World Cup campaign
Baris Alper Yilmaz ahead of Turkey's 2026 World Cup campaign
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Everton are being linked with a move for Baris Alper Yilmaz but what could the Galatasaray winger potentially bring to the Blues?
It was reported on Friday in Turkey by Sportcell Medya that Everton officials had arrived in Istanbul with a £35million offer on the table.
Yilmaz was born in the Black Sea coastal city of Rize in north eastern Turkey on May 23, 2000, and started his professional career in the capital Ankara, first with Demispor and then Keciorengucu. He moved to Galatasaray in 2021 and has made 205 appearances for them, scoring 37 goals, including double-figure hauls for each of the last two seasons (14 in 2024/25 and 12 in 2025/26).
Having made his international debut in a 6-0 win over Gibraltar on November 13, 2021, four months after his switch to the Istanbul giants, he has been capped 38 times for Turkey, including all three of their World Cup games earlier this summer, and has scored five goals, including the second in their 3-2 victory over co-hosts USA in their final group fixture in Los Angeles on June 26.
What sort of player is Yilmaz? Comparisonator’s player profile gives him an 8.7 out of 10 score as a ‘line winger’, a wide attacker who is good at beating opponents through dribbling and delivering accurate crosses from wide areas while staying close to the touchline. He scores 8.4 as a line forward and 7.2 as a wide playmaker.
In terms of Premier League players from last season, Comparisonator’s Similarity test curiously places Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo as the closest match at 92%. The running order then goes Matheus Cunha of Manchester United (85%); Alejandro Garnacho of Chelsea, who has now joined Aston Villa (84%); Gabriel Martinelli of Arsenal (77%); Kaoru Mitoma of Brighton & Hove Albion (74%) and Anthony Gordon of Newcastle United, who has now joined Barcelona (71%).
We can also use Comparisonator’s Virtual Transfer tool to correlate Yilmaz’s statistics from last season against Premier League players in his position. One area where he excels is with assists, averaging 0.32 per 90 minutes to top Premier League leader Jack Grealish of Everton on 0.25.
Baris Alper Yilmaz's assists for Galatasaray last season compared to Premier League players in his position
Baris Alper Yilmaz's assists for Galatasaray last season compared to Premier League players in his position
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When it comes to shot assists, only Marcus Tavernier of Bournemouth (1.92) can top Yilmaz’s 1.77 as he edges out Grealish on 1.75. He would also ranked second for playing in scoring attacks (0.86) with only Antoine Semenyo of Manchester City ahead of him (0.95).
Yilmaz’s expected goals (xG) of 0.24 would place him sixth among Premier League players in his position, a category topped by Tavernier on 0.39 while also comes in sixth for sprinting distance (311m) behind leader Kevin Schade of Brentford on 387m, which measures runs over 25km/h. When it comes to maximum speed, Yilmaz climbs to fifth on 35.2km/h with Schade again in top spot on 35.84km/h.
Only Jeremy Doku of Manchester City (4.28) has more successful dribbles in the final third of the pitch than Yilmaz on 2.82 while, without the ball, he ranks second for successful defensive actions percentage on 61% behind Yankuba Minteh of Brighton & Hove Albion (63%).
Yilmaz’s score of 1.18 per 90 minutes for successful crosses would rank him fourth in the Premier League last season behind Minteh (2.38); Gordon (1.47) and Pedro Neto of Chelsea (1.2) while his 0.73 key passes would place him eighth in a section topped by Tavernier on 0.92. He also does well in one-on-one battles with 10.14 duels won per 90 minutes, a figure second only to Doku (10.24) and topping Everton pair Iliman Ndiaye (9.4) and Grealish (9.2).
Overall, Yilmaz looks a dynamic player who could excite but the fee quoted is a considerable one and given that he should already be at the peak of his powers, the 26-year-old would also be taking a big step up in quality from the Turkish Super Lig to the Premier League. Much could also depend on the respective futures of the aforementioned Ndiaye and Grealish and whether they are back at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
*Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising an industry leading 378 different parameters. Click here for more details.
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