on signing for Madrid: signing for Madrid is not something that happens every day!  When the agreement was finalized, you can imagine how it was.  I was thinking to myself, “Real Madrid player, Real Madrid player…”  It wasn’t a hard decision, because it’s the biggest club in the world.  If Madrid calls you, you go to Madrid.  You can’t say no to Madrid.

on his relationship with Mesut Özil: he’s my friend and I’m sure he’ll help me out a lot in my adaptation.  We speak every two to three days because we have a great relationship, so you can imagine what it means for me to be able to play with him in Madrid.  He’s told me that this is a special club, the biggest one you can be in.  He’s enjoys playing football there and he’s improving as a player.  He’s very happy with my signing.

on what he knows about the city of Madrid: I understand that the people are very nice and the fans are affectionate.  But the most important thing is the club, because you won’t see me much in the city.  I live for football 24 hours a day.  I don’t usually go out.  I’m married and I have a very tranquil and orderly life.

on the Bernabéu: I played there with the Turkish national team and it’s marvelous.  When you go out there and you look up… ¡Buf!  I always wanted to play there and I remember that when I did, I realized one of my dreams.  We lost the game, but I felt something special.  It’s a beautiful stadium with a great history.

on his language skills: I speak Turkish, German, English and Dutch.  I think it’s important to understand the customs and culture of the places where you are, so I’ve always worked hard to learn languages.  I will learn Spanish quickly.

on his jersey number: I don’t care about that, whatever they give me will be fine.  I’m not the type of player who cares about those kinds of things.  I focus on the game, not the things around it.

And the personal test.

A car: Audi S5.  It’s the one I have, the best one I’ve ever had and one that I never imagined I would own [well, now he can get one for free!].

A color: white.

A city: Istanbul.

A vacation spot: Antalya (Turkey).

A stadium: the Santiago Bernabéu and that of Borussia Dortmund, of course.

A movie: any that stars Denzel Washington, the best actor.

A book: The Alchemist.

A hobby: spending time with my family and playing Play.

A dream: to realize the dream of Real Madrid, which is to win the Champions.

A desire: health for my entire family.

You love… eating and sleeping.

You hate… lies.

Your ringtone:  the Champions League hymn.  In September, I’ll hear it on the field.

A woman’s name: Tugba, my wife’s name.

And here is a video of Sahin meeting his idol Cristiano back in 2008.  Take care, my friend.