Turkey star Basturk joins Blackburn

Turkey star Yildiray Basturk has joined struggling Premier League side Blackburn from Stuttgart on a short-term deal until the end of the season, the English club announced on Wednesday.

The German-born 31-year-old, an attacking midfielder who made his name as part of the Turkey squad that reached the last four of the 2002 World Cup, had been at the Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart since 2007, having joined them from Hertha Berlin.

Basturk previously played for Bayer Leverkusen, with whom he reached the 2002 Champions League final, where they lost to a Real Madrid side featuring Blackburn defender Michel Salgado.