Everton have been linked with a move for Galatasaray winger Baris Alper Yilmaz. A report in Turkey on Friday from Sportcell Medya said Everton officials had arrived in Istanbul with a £35million offer on the table.
Yilmaz, born in the Black Sea coastal city of Rize on May 23, 2000, started his professional career in Ankara with Demispor and then Keciorengucu. He moved to Galatasaray in 2021 and has made 205 appearances for the club, scoring 37 goals, including double-figure hauls in each of the last two seasons: 14 in 2024/25 and 12 in 2025/26.
He made his international debut in a 6-0 win over Gibraltar on November 13, 2021, four months after his switch to the Istanbul giants. The 26-year-old 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 a 3-2 victory over co-hosts USA in their final group fixture in Los Angeles on June 26.
What sort of player is Yilmaz?
According to Comparisonator's player profile, Yilmaz scores 8.7 out of 10 as a 'line winger' - a wide attacker who beats opponents through dribbling and delivers 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.
Comparisonator's Similarity test places Liverpool's Cody Gakpo as the closest match among Premier League players from last season at 92%. The running order continues with Matheus Cunha of Manchester United (85%), Alejandro Garnacho of Chelsea, now at Aston Villa (84%), Gabriel Martinelli of Arsenal (77%), Kaoru Mitoma of Brighton & Hove Albion (74%) and Anthony Gordon of Newcastle United, now at Barcelona (71%).
How would he compare in the Premier League?
Using 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 assists. He averaged 0.32 per 90 minutes, topping Premier League leader Jack Grealish of Everton on 0.25.
For 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 rank second for playing in scoring attacks (0.86), with only Antoine Semenyo of Manchester City ahead on 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. He also comes in sixth for sprinting distance (311m) - which measures runs over 25km/h - behind leader Kevin Schade of Brentford on 387m. For maximum speed, Yilmaz climbs to fifth on 35.2km/h, with Schade again top on 35.84km/h.
Only Jeremy Doku of Manchester City (4.28) has more successful dribbles in the final third than Yilmaz's 2.82. Without the ball, Yilmaz ranks second for successful defensive actions percentage on 61%, behind Yankuba Minteh of Brighton & Hove Albion (63%).
His 1.18 successful crosses per 90 minutes would rank fourth in the Premier League last season behind Minteh (2.38), Gordon (1.47) and Pedro Neto of Chelsea (1.2). His 0.73 key passes would place him eighth, in a section topped by Tavernier on 0.92. He also performs well in one-on-one battles, winning 10.14 duels per 90 minutes - second only to Doku (10.24) and ahead of Everton pair Iliman Ndiaye (9.4) and Grealish (9.2).
What would he bring to Everton?
Overall, Yilmaz looks a dynamic player who could excite, but the fee quoted is considerable. 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 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, comparing players and clubs by using 378 different parameters.
