Son of a Turkish Legend

Tomasz Moczerniuk (beIN Sports USA): 

You have a unique story: born in Turkey, educated in the United States, lived in Great Britain, and now plying your trade in Poland. How did it all begin? 

Tan Kesler, CEO and vice-chairman of Pogoń Szczecin: 

I'm fortunate to be born into a sports family. My mother was a national-level gymnast, and my dad, Sevket Kesler, was a footballer and played as a right back for multiple teams, including the Turkey national team. In 1981, his Adanaspor played Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup, so he played against Giuseppe Baresi, Aldo Serena and Alessandro Altobelli. His career was shortened due to knee problems, but later on, he became a professional coach. He was my mentor and someone whom I always looked up to. 

If your dad played football so well, why not try it yourself?

I did try, but I realized that I could never be as good as he was. Also, my dad didn't want me to go through the struggles that most of the football players went through at that time. His plan was for me to become the first university graduate from our entire family. 

So sacrifice sport for education. But you managed to find a way to do both?

Yes. Thanks to basketball, which at first I played in high school and then in Besiktas Istanbul’s youth teams. I was a very passionate and athletic player with strong fundamentals. When I played for the Olympic Team and signed my first pro contract with Besikta,s I received scholarship offers from colleges in the US. I knew that this could be a perfect way to get my father’s blessings to play sports while going to school. I got accepted to Kean University, so I voided my contract and flew to New Jersey.

American Dream

Where you spent four successful years (2001-05) and scored over 1200 points under a great coach, Bruce Hamburger. Have you been back since? 

So far - despite a few invites - it has just not worked out due to work schedules and travel. But I plan on visiting the US, my schools and college friends during the 2026 World Cup. I am looking forward to showing it all to my family.

Schools, because after Kean, you went to New York University (NYU), where — in the heart of Manhattan — you got your MA in Sports Business. That paved the way for you to become a player agent. Was this what you wanted to do right after school?

Not in the first instance, as I always wanted to be a part of the sports environment, but breaking into that field in the US was very hard. Instead, because of my degree from Kean, I started working in finance. But as soon as NYU started to offer MA courses in Sports Business, I jumped right on it. I got admitted, and soon I began meeting a lot of sports executives and entrepreneurs. That gave me a very good perspective on how to be successful in the sports industry. 

Your dream was to work for the NBA's international office? 

Yes, but my dreams were shattered after just 15 minutes of the job interview, as I was told that I was not the right candidate because they were shifting their focus to Asia. Shortly after, my classmate convinced me to come and work with him for Major League Soccer (MLS). At the time, the league’s office was small and employed around 80 people. I started as an intern and made my way to the operations department. 

Returning to Turkey

But that didn’t last too long? 

True, and because of the 2010 Pre World Cup USA Tour of the Turkish National Team, I was asked by MLS Ops to oversee the Turkish National team during their matches and stay in the USA. During the tournament, I was hired by the Turkish national team as the Executive Director of the Senior National Team. I went to work with Guus Hiddink and his team, which was aiming to qualify for the Euro tournament in Poland and Ukraine. I had to plan that qualification cycle from a strategic and commercial point of view. Because of that, I was able to visit the beautiful country of Poland. We lost to Croatia in the playoffs, but I stayed, and during the 2014 World Cup cycle, I got to work with the legendary Turkish coach Fatih Terim, overseeing coach education and UEFA and FIFA relations.

Very impressive. So how did you end up as an agent?

It was an opportunistic moment. In my final year of working for the Turkish Football Association, we decided to change the foreign player rule and increase the number of foreign players from 4 to 14 as a special committee. I quickly realized that there's going to be a lot of representation needed for a lot of players from abroad. I also saw the struggles of many Turkish national team players - some of them were my friends - and wanted to help them. That's where the “Jerry Maguire moment” came for me. I started my own company, partnered with Wasserman and dove right into it. It was completely different from what I expected, but I think within my five years, I have done well as one of the top agents in Turkey.

Who were some of the players you managed? 

I worked on a lot of player acquisitions, intermediation and Turkish player representations, but beIN Sports viewers and readers should recognize one name: DeAndre Yedlin. I represented him in Turkey after we completed his deal from Newcastle United to Galatasaray. But I think the most important one was Loris Karius. I brought him to Turkey the year after he played in the Champions League final with the aim of starting a new chapter. 

Learning Curve at Hull City 

How did you end up at Hull?

While working in the agency space, I often thought about coming back to the football family as a Football director where I could implement my ideas and vision. I was offered jobs from Turkish clubs, but since I was doing really well with the agency, I never felt fully comfortable making that switch. What convinced me was an offer from my friend Acun Ilıcalı, a media mogul and one of the most famous people in Turkey. He had a dream of owning a club in England and asked me for help. My due diligence pointed to Hull City as the healthiest and most affordable club in the Championship, England. After I successfully helped him acquire the club, he asked me to stay. I was humbled and honored, because I knew this would be a success story. I closed my agency and, within a short time, joined Hull.

But the first year was not easy? You almost got relegated.

You have to learn and adapt - people think that it’s easy to get the big ticket to the Premier League: you come in, buy a club, invest heavily and then get promoted. It doesn't work like this. We knew that the first season was going to be difficult for budgetary reasons, but we had changes to make at every level of the club, such as playing squads, financial models, culture, compliance with profit and sustainability regulations, personnel and rebuilding fans and community relations. Of course, investment can speed up the process, but you have to put the foundations in place in order to build towards what you want to achieve. That requires expertise and strategic planning, but also time - we got that and were almost in the play-offs further down the line. The pressure and desire for instant success should not take away from the long-term planning or future of the club, and this kind of expertise can make the difference for investors coming into the sport. 

And survive you did. What did the following years look like?

From a sporting perspective in year two, we tapped into the local talent, but also brought international players. We created a good group and gave a chance to a highly impressive, brilliant young coach in Liam Rosenior. He went on to do really well at Ligue 1 side Strasbourg and is now managing at the highest levels at Chelsea. Under his guidance, we started applying our football model. We were very unpredictable to play against and began creeping up the table. The following year, we missed the play-offs - and possibly the promotion - by a point. That year we had a lot of talent, were the most exciting team in the league and earned over 60 million pounds in transfers. Other players that we loaned and developed got sold by their clubs, like Chelsea. We made the decision to develop players, and that would end up resulting in sales in excess of 100 million pounds. So there was knowledge and a strategy. We wanted to change a lot of things. Unfortunately, there are many rules and regulations that are in place throughout the domestic pyramid, which can prevent such changes from being implemented. As such, I am a big believer in giving directors and executives time to implement their ideas and achieve results.  

Introduction to Ekstraklasa

And that happened to be in Poland. How did you end up in Szczecin? 

I love what I do and the time I spent at Hull City, but the realities of the job are that you are working day and night, giving everything to ensure you provide the tools to those throughout the club to succeed. Family is everything to me, and when you are so committed to a club, there is valuable time which I felt I was missing with my son, who was still so young. My family and I made the decision to take some time out to properly be together - it felt like the right moment to leave and was a natural transition, with the club aware of my intentions and feelings well in advance, even if it appeared like a sudden decision from the outside. But during my last year, I met a Canadian entrepreneur and financier, Alex Haditaghi. As we became friends, he kept talking and influencing me about this very good club in Poland that he wanted to be a part of or even own it at some point. He asked me to support him. I was quite unsure because I knew Polish players, coaches and the national team’s level, but I didn't know much about the development of Ekstraklasa. So in December 2024, I said to Alex: let’s fly and watch a game there. 

And you instantly fell in love. 

Yes. The match day experience took my breath away. The stadium is just three years old, and the fans are so passionate and supportive. The city of Szczecin breathes and lives for football and for the club. We also saw that the previous ownership had made some strategic decisions that affected their future in the club. So there was a huge potential to come in and change, but as “evolution” instead of “revolution”.

What were your first impressions of the league? 

The Ekstraklasa business model seemed very promising. The new TV deal could make this league among the best in Europe. The Polish government is supportive towards infrastructure. I also realized that the people in Poland are very receptive. If they see you progressing and being genuine, they support you. And of course, the football level really pleased me. 

Helping Pogoń (Chase) Its Destiny

So you came and got busy working from the get-go?

First, we had to save the club from financial problems. Thankfully, Alex had written a big check and put significant amounts of his finances into this operation. Otherwise, we wouldn't be getting the license to play in Ekstraklasa. But from my perspective, the plan was always this: we knew that this was a club established in 1948, but yet to win a trophy. That intrigued us so much because we could be history makers. To be remembered as first would be just amazing. So one of our goals is obviously to deliver a cup or league title. The other one is to be competitive each year, finish in the top four and play in the European competitions. Finally, to play a specific way of football and be able to develop and sell players to bigger leagues. All that is needed to achieve and maintain our sustainability. 

Ambitious, but certainly not easy goals.

No. To make it work, you have to have an identity and philosophy. You have to have the fans accepting that identity, a coach that supports it and players who can buy into it and perform accordingly. We play very attractive and entertaining football and - thanks to our fans, who fill the stadium to the very last seat at almost every home game - we are the fourth biggest economy in Ekstraklasa. 

All that while having a team that is very young.

Yes. On November 24th, we beat Zagłębie Lubin 5:1, and it was a historic moment for the club because all five goals were scored by players 23 years of age and under. A 23-year old Hungarian striker, Rajmund Molnar, had a double. Also born in 2002, Sam Greenwood scored once, as did 21-year old Greek Dimitrios Keramitsis, who came from Roma and is a successful starter at center-back for us. Even the 19-year old academy player Adrian Przyborek - who’s been with us since 11 - got on the scoresheet. It was a very proud moment for Alex and me. We were happy because it showed us we are on the right track and we should continue to make investments into young players, who sometimes struggle and need a good environment around them. 

Mendy = Winning Mentality

That environment includes having experienced players supporting the youngsters. You have had a great mentor in Kamil Grosicki (over 100 caps for Poland and a decade spent in Switzerland, Turkey, France and England), but in the summer window you added Benjamin Mendy. He’s only the second World Cup winner ever to play in the Polish top flight. What does that mean to the club? 

Benji is a tremendous addition to us. We felt we needed to bring someone, if not more players, who could influence the winning mentality. You can talk about it as much as you want, but having someone on the team who has actually done it could be a great example for the younger players. That is in addition to the many years he has ahead of him at the top levels in football. 

He signed in mid-September, but didn’t play until November 9th. 

This is natural in football for a player who needs to first get match fit training alone before joining the group, understanding what the manager wants and earning his place in the side. We didn't rush it. We wanted to make sure that he's prepared and fully fit. He highly valued the care and professional expertise provided to him by the performance staff and physiotherapists from the very first day. While he was getting ready, we realized that he's already fallen in love with the environment. He found some personal connection with the city because Szczecin is designed by a city planner who designed Paris! He fell in love with the fans, whom he compared to the fans of Marseille. He's literally been living and breathing the city and the culture with us. That's very significant. 

Hard to find a better ambassador of the club?

He's been to every fundraiser, every community event. The city loves him. He's like one of us. He wanted to explore every bit of the city, so he was riding a scooter to the stadium. Ekstraklasa needs players like this. Sam Greenwood or Benjamin Mendy want to give something back to football and to make Polish football more globally well-known. When we signed Mendy, it generated over 100 million social media views throughout the world. Our club got recognized. This is also very important moving forward on the commercial side of things.

Can New Additions Come From the US?

Who’s going to be a big splash in the winter? 

We have some positions that need to be improved. If we can improve them then yes, we will invest in January. If not, we will continue with the players that we have because I know that there's room for them to progress. The January window for us is about bringing better quality and experienced players.

Where do you concentrate your scouting efforts?  

Beyond the domestic market, the Championship or Scandinavian leagues are quite intriguing, as are Turkey, Greece, Spain and the US. We have to be clever in how we operate, attracting top talent that may be undervalued elsewhere and who can really add something to our team. But players are not signed alone on talent - we go to great lengths to get a full 360-degree understanding as to their profile, persona, habits, mentality, background and commercial appeal. It is important for Alex because he values the North American sports mentality and business strategies. So I - knowing that kind of culture very well - am trying to combine it all together.

And when you do Pogoń will get into European competitions or earn trophies?

Both are connected because winning a trophy gets you to play in Europe. And the more you compete in Europe the more recognition you get, which makes a positive impact on the revenue and club’s future. And that - Pogoń’s sustainability and longevity - is our end goal. To support that Alex doesn’t want to take the money out of the business. He wants to reinvest it. 

So big dreams, big goals, big things ahead of Pogoń?

We have big ambitions, but we are not the type of people to commit to something that it's not in our own hands - an inch either side of the post can be the difference between winning and losing. Those are the finest of margins, but in order for us to increase the likelihood of realizing our objectives, it is about us giving the tools to those around us to have the best chance to succeed at every level. We have to have the city of Szczecin, the fans, the players, the management, the ownership, the staff and employees all come together to be able to deliver that. And that takes time. 

Why should the fans from North America tune in to beIN Sports USA to watch Pogoń games?

If they want to see entertaining football, amazing fan experience - with tifos, choreographies and a light show at a brand new stadium - and a club that has more identity, more freedom of expression on and off the field then this is the team to watch and a place to be. 

 
And should other North American investors follow Alex? 

It's a no brainer because the league is growing, has such a strong business model and the teams already have strong, promising financials. It could be an amazing opportunity to get exposure into European competitions.

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