Micah Richards laughed off some previous comments made by Hakan Calhanoglu suggesting he is better than a Manchester City star.
Calhanoglu was in action today at Euro 2024 for Turkey, as they faced Georgia in their opening group stage match.
Calhanoglu is one of the most experienced players in their squad, having racked up 87 caps.
The midfielder plays his club football in Italy these days, having been with Inter for the last three years after joining from AC Milan.
As one of the more prominent figures for Turkey, Calhanoglu was a focus for the BBC punditry team ahead of today’s game with Georgia.
Some of his past comments were put to Micah Richards, who respectfully disagreed with the star.
Micah Richards lauds off Hakan Calhanoglu suggestion that he’s a better deep-lying midfielder than Rodri
These days, Calhanoglu, 30, operates a bit deeper than he used to.
During his earlier days, the star was mostly an attacking midfielder. But in recent times, he has been deployed just in front of the defence and asked to make use of his brilliant passing range.
Earlier this year, Calhanoglu suggested that he was the best midfielder in the world. He is quoted by Football Italia as saying: “Fifth Enzo Fernandez, fourth Kimmich, third Kroos, second Rodri, first I.
“Why am I the best? Because I score goals, others don’t. If you look at the statistics, I never score from close range, but from 25-30 meters or from a free kick.
“These are difficult things. Then everyone is good at managing, but I don’t like making passes five meters away.”
Calhanoglu’s thoughts were put to Micah Richards ahead of Turkey’s game with Georgia, but the former Etihad full-backs wasn’t having any of it.
He praised Calhanoglu, but said: “He’s confident! In all honesty, he’s such a talented player. Before, he played a little bit further forward in a number 10 role, now he plays more as a number 6.
“The passes he makes on build-up. It’s all about his timing and the range of passing he has as well. And it’s his confidence that gets him through. He makes them (Inter) really tick.
“I don’t agree with him, in terms of (him) being the best. But he’s certainly probably in my top three. Rodri’s got to be number one.”
No one is better than Rodri
Calhanoglu is a top player and regularly dominates games for Inter at the base of the midfield with his comfort on the ball and passing range.
Who knows if he still feels this way a few months on, but realistically he is not better than Rodri.
Yes, Calhanoglu scores goals. But 12 of his 15 goals last season for Inter were from the penalty spot. Granted, he is capable of scoring spectacular goals from distance, but this is something that Rodri also has in his locker.
City’s £63 million signing Rodri actually had more goal contributions than Calhanoglu last season (23 vs 18), and also dominated most games he featured in.
One has to admire the confidence from Calhanoglu. He is definitely up there as one of the best deep-lying playmakers in football at the moment, but he’ll probably struggle to find anyone agreeing with him that he’s better than Rodri.