Thursday 1 September 2016 11:45, UK
Nigel de Jong says he signed a two-year deal with Galatasaray because he was missing European football.
De Jong joined the Turkish giants on a free transfer on deadline day after less than half a year with LA Galaxy.
The MLS side agreed to terminate the tough-tackling Dutch midfielder's contract before a clause saw De Jong's wages soar to the multi-million dollar range of a Designated Player in 2017.
"I stayed six months in Los Angeles. I wanted to return to Europe again," De Jong told Galatasaray's in-house TV channel.
"I love football and I am a football guy. Galatasaray gave me the chance to return to a European atmosphere."
The former Milan, Manchester City, Hamburg and Ajax enforcer will be reunited in Istanbul with Netherlands team-mate Wesley Sneijder.
"I am very happy to be playing in the same team as him. He is a great fighter and someone who loves to win," said De Jong, adding he had called Sneijder ahead of the move.
De Jong's combative style - as seen in his notorious chest high studs-out challenge on Spain's Xabi Alonso in the 2010 World Cup final - did not always go down well in the MLS and the 31-year-old may find a better home in the rough-and-tumble of the Turkish Super Lig.
