Rovers swoop for Turkish midfielder Basturk

Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce has made his first move in the winter transfer market by bringing in Turkish midfielder Yildiray Basturk.  Basturk, 31, has signed a short term contract that will keep him at Ewood Park till the end of the 2009-10 season.

Herne born Basturk started off with Wattenscheid 09 and moved to Bochum in 1997.  It was however at Bayer Leverkusen that he arrived on the world stage. He was part of the Leverkusen side that lost the 2002 Champions League final to Real Madrid.  Turkey also finished third at the World Cup in the same year.

Basturk, who has earned nearly 50 caps for Turkey at international level, said that veteran midfielder Tugay helped him make the decision to move north to England. Tugay made nearly 300 appearances for Blackburn between 2001 and 2009 before hanging up his boots last year.

[Source:- Blackburn Rovers FC]