Ümit Karan

Ümit Karan (born 1 October 1976) is a Turkish football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Menemenspor.

He played for Gençlerbirliği S.K., Ankaraspor, Galatasaray and Eskişehirspor. He made his international debut for Turkey in 1999, and earned a total of ten caps, scoring three goals.

Club career After playing for Gençlerbirliği for five seasons and scoring 91 goals, Ümit moved to Galatasaray at the start of the 2001–02 season and was a key player in Mircea Lucescu's squad as the main striker after Mario Jardel's departure.

During the 2004–05 season, he was loaned to Ankaraspor by manager Gheorghe Hagi due to his dip in form. However, Ümit made a strong return for the 2005–06 season with Galatasaray's new manager, Eric Gerets. Getting along well with Gerets and his playing style, Ümit scored 81 goals in 18 matches at the start of the season. But in early 2006, Umit's season was cut short by a knee injury, which kept him out of the game for six months.

At the start of the 2006–07 season, Ümit regained his place on the team after the injury layoff, scoring his 100th goal in the Süper Lig on 18 September 2006, against Beşiktaş.

Ümit has great finishing ability, and he is usually in pursuit of sensational goals, particularly with volleys and bicycle kicks. His most sensational goal is arguably the one against Vestel Manisaspor. Ümit latched onto a 40-meter pass just inside the box, struck a one-time shot with his right foot, and curled it around the goalkeeper. He also possesses good pace, stamina and strength. He has had his share of problems with his former Galatasaray managers, Fatih Terim and Gheorghe Hagi. On 24 June 2009 he was fired from his 2010 contract with Galatasaray, and he signed a contract with Eskisehirspor for three years.

Managerial career On 4 October 2018 Karan accepted an offer to become the manager of FK Shkupi. He took over the team who were struggling to meet expectations and found themselves in 9th. His first game in charge was on 21 October 2018, which Shkupi won 2–1 against fellow underperformers, Sileks. During his first season in charge of the Skopje based club, he managed to achieve a 4th place finish in the league and thus secured a Europa League qualifying slot. On 26 August 2019 Karan left his post as manager of Shkupi. His final game in charge was a 2–2 draw with Renova. On 30 September 2020 Karan re-joined Shkupi as manager on a one-year contract.

Legal issues Karan was tried on charges of sexual assault for an incident in 2015 and sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison in 2025.

Career statistics

Honours Gençlerbirliği Turkish Cup: 2000–01

Galatasaray Süper Lig: 2001–02, 2005–06, 2007–08