Ozan Tufan looks forward to playing in front of the Watford supporters at Vicarage Road, and thanks his teammates and staff at the club for helping him settle in.
The midfielder joined Watford from Fenerbahçe on loan last month, and has had a seamless integration into Xisco Muñoz’s squad.
“Everything is going well. I’m very happy to be here,” said Tufan. “We have goals the club have set out and I’m ready to do everything I can on the pitch to help achieve them. Thank you to everyone who helped bring me here - I feel I’ve settled well and hope it continues.”
Watford is Tufan’s first club outside of his native Turkey, making it a difficult decision to move abroad. The 26-year-old had lengthy discussions with his wife and immediate family, with the former joining him in England soon.
“I’ve had to leave my family and my wife, but hopefully she will be with me in a few weeks,” he said. “It was a decision we made collectively because they are always a big part of my life and my biggest supporters. I’d like to thank my wife, my family and my agent for their support and hard work, without them I wouldn’t be here.”
Tufan may not have family with him at the moment, but he has had help settling in, with support from team-mates and even a Premier League opponent.
“I arrived here on my own but everyone has been great,” said Tufan. “Moussa helps me, my other teammates help me. Joshua [King] kindly took me for dinner last night with [Arsenal midfielder] Martin Ødegaard. To be honest, everyone is helping me on and off the pitch and I thank them all for that. Joshua, Moussa [Sissoko] and of course [Juraj] Kucka and [Peter] Etebo, who I know from playing in Turkey.”
Tufan started his career at Bursaspor, his local club, who spotted him as a youngster.
“I was first spotted playing for the school team in a local tournament. Bursaspor signed me and after that I went to Fenerbahçe and finally I’m here now at Watford,” he said.
“I will be eternally grateful to Bursaspor for their influence on my career. I also have to mention Fenerbahçe - the club, the fans, they will also always have a huge place in my heart. I had some amazing moments, made some great friends and despite never winning the league in seven years at the club we had some amazing highs and also some real lows, but all of these moments at both Bursaspor and Fenerbahçe have led me to being here today, so of course I’m very happy.”
One of many highlights at Fenerbahçe, who he joined in 2015, was playing in the Istanbul derby against Galatasaray, considered by many to be the fiercest rivalry in the world.
“All I can say is, I’ve been lucky enough to play in some really big, really important games during my career but the derby is always different,” said Tufan.
“The excitement begins days before, to the point where you are unable to sleep the night before the game. I'm somebody who lives every moment and for the home derby games in particular, I've never experienced an atmosphere like that in my life. You can’t really explain it in words, it's something that you have to experience for real in person so I advise everyone who can to try and do that!”
One nickname Tufan picked up during his time at Fenerbahçe, and one he has retained with the national team, is the ‘Turkish Pogba’, due to his long-range goal-scoring efforts and impressive physicality in midfield.
“Of course Paul Pogba is a top, top player. I’ve managed to score a few nice goals which have drawn comparisons from the Turkish public with Pogba so to be compared to such a top player like that is something I can only take as a compliment,” Tufan explained.
“We have similarities in that we both like to play as box-to-box midfielders but I would rather answer this question with my performances on the pitch and let people decide. One of my goals in football has always been to play against the best players in the world and I look forward to the challenges that this season will bring, coming up against players like Paul Pogba.”
Çağlar Söyüncü, Ozan Kabak and Cenk Tosun are three full Turkey internationals currently playing in the Premier League. Tufan spoke to Söyüncü on international duty last week about joining Watford, and looks forward to catching up with the Leicester defender soon.
“Before I came [to Watford] I was in contact with them. We will be playing Ozan [Kabak] and Norwich City this weekend as well,” said Tufan.
“Çağlar is probably the happiest person to see me here in England because we are very good friends. Funnily enough years ago we would talk about us both one day playing in the Premier League so hopefully if we can both find time we will sit down and have a coffee together, knowing that we achieved this collective dream.”
Tufan was on the bench last weekend, and got the opportunity to experience Vicarage Road for the first time. He looks forward to playing for the Hornets in front of the Watford faithful, and seeks to emulate his goals from the Turkish Super League and international duty.
“I was hoping and eager to play in the last game against Wolves but of course I respect the manager’s decision,” said Tufan.
“To be honest I can’t wait to play in front of our home fans and it would be a dream to score for them as well. The first time I met Xisco [Muñoz] when I arrived I had a clear set of goals and targets for this season, and yes, I will admit that one of them was to score in my first game, in front of our home fans!”
