Hasan Şaş (born 1 August 1976 in Karataş, Adana, Turkey) is a Turkish international footballer who is currently a winger with one of Turkey's most storied clubs, Galatasaray.
The Turkish marksman began his career with a bang at club side Ankaragücü in 1995, scoring nearly at will for the unfashionable club. Domestic giants Galatasaray soon took a shine to the prolific young poacher's considerable talents. In 1998, Hasan signed on with the historic İstanbul giants, but almost immediately upon arrival, he was suspended from football for six months after testing positive for banned substances. The clinical finisher did not allow the sizeable bout with adversity to ruin his burgeoning career, as he roundly regained his spot with Galatasaray in the dream season of 1999/2000, in which the club won the first major European trophy for any Turkish club. Galatasaray won the UEFA Cup title in 2000 over Arsenal in a hard-fought final, and went on to win the 2000 European Super Cup.
Hasan has since cemented himself as a regular in an increasingly classy Turkish national side. In Champions League competition in 2000/01, the left-sided attacker appeared on 12 separate occasions for Galatasaray. He even managed to grab goals against such giants as Spain's Real Madrid and Italy's AC Milan as well as against Brazilian National Team in 2002 World Cup. After establishing himself for both club and country, both AC Milan and French side Nantes expressed interest in the striker's services, but on both occasions, terms could not be agreed. Considering his goal scoring acumen, his ability to drop behind the strikers and turn provider, and his overall difficulty to deal with by opposition defenders, the striker 's time at Galatasaray seems to be nearing its inevitable conclusion, as the big money of Western Europe seems certain to lure Hasan away.
