Rangers FC Player Profile - Ridvan Yilmaz

Rıdvan Yılmaz was born on 21st May 2001 in the Gaziosmanpaşa district of Istanbul, Türkiye. He joined the youth academy at Beşiktaş—one of the Big Three football clubs in the country—aged just seven, and spent the next decade progressing through the ranks.

Yılmaz scored nine goals in 44 appearances for the club’s Under-19 team.

Breakthrough for Beşiktaş and Türkiye

On 8th April 2019, Yılmaz came on as a late substitute against Çaykur Rizespor in the Süper Lig to make his professional debut. Next season [2019-20] saw him make seven senior appearances, six in the league, during which he created one assist.

However, his true breakthrough came in the 2020-21 season, when he scored one goal and provided two assists in 21 senior appearances in all competitions, and helped Beşiktaş win three trophies: the Süper Lig, the Türkiye Kupası, and the TFF Süper Kupa.

He also made his senior debut for the Turkish international football team, in May 2021, against Azerbaijan in a warm-up friendly for UEFA Euro 2020, and was included in the final 26-man squad for the tournament.

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Final Season at Beşiktaş and Move to Scotland

For the 2021-22 season, Yılmaz had established himself in the starting line-up at Beşiktaş. He made seven goal contributions—three goals and four assists—in 33 appearances across all competitions, playing at either left back or left midfield but failed to win another trophy.

In total, he made 62 senior appearances for the Black Eagles, scoring four goals and providing seven assists.

Rangers FC paid £3.4 million, potentially rising to £5.3 million with add-ons, in July 2022 to bring Yılmaz to Glasgow on a five-year contract.

He made his Gers debut, again as a substitute, in a UEFA Champions League qualifier against Union Saint-Gilloise on 2nd August. However, injuries would restrict him to just 15 appearances in all competitions in his first season.

Yılmaz fared much better in the 2023-24 season. He made 33 appearances in all competitions, with two goals and one assist, and helped the Light Blues win the Scottish League Cup.

He made four appearances to begin the 2024-25 season but has since missed the last four matches because of another hamstring injury.

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International Career to Date

Yılmaz represented Türkiye at several age groups—U16, U17, U18, U19, and U21—making 50 total appearances, and has played in seven matches for the senior national football team.

He is only the second Turkish footballer to ever play for Rangers, after Tugay Kerimoğlu, who was at the club from January 2000 to July 2001.