In September 2001, Davala transferred to Milan in a €5 million deal.[citation needed] He made the transfer because he wanted to follow his former coach at Galatasaray, Fatih Terim, who had been named head coach of Milan. However, in November, Terim was fired and replaced by Carlo Ancelotti, after which Davala lost his first-team place.
In June 2002, Davala was sold to Inter Milan in exchange for Dario Šimić, but was immediately loaned to Galatasaray.[2] In July 2003, Davala was loaned to Werder Bremen, helping the club win the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double. In July 2004, he was signed permanently by Bremen, but injuries limited his appearances. A hip injury suffered in October 2005 proved too difficult, and over the winter break of the 2005–06 season, Davala was released by the club. He subsequently retired from professional football.
International career
Davala was part of the Turkey squads for UEFA Euro 2000 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In the latter, he stood out for his mohawk hair style and scored a goal against PR China in the group stage, adding the winner against Japan in the second round. He also provided the cross that resulted on İlhan Mansız's golden goal against Senegal in the quarter-finals. Turkey would finish the tournament in third place.
Davala had been the head coach of Turkey national under-21 team until June 2008. He then joined Galatasaray S.K. as an assistant manager on 11 June 2008. After a loss to Bursaspor, the Galatasaray board stated "radical changes" were on the way, and, true to its word, the board declared that assistant coaches Davala and Edwin Boekamp were sacked on 10 October 2008 after a brief chat with club president Adnan Polat.[5] However, Davala rejoined Galatasaray as an assistant manager again in June 2011.
Musical career
Davala released several rap themed songs, just after he retired from football. One was a collaboration with Kayahan.[6]
Career statistics
Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[7][8]
^Oruçoğlu, Derya (1 January 2020). "Ömer Kaner: "Futbol eğitiminde Avrupa markasıyız"" (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2021. Evet. İlk kez Avrupa Şampiyonası finallerine katılma hakkı elde ettik. Kısa zamanda Avrupa'da ilk 12 takım arasına girdik. Avrupa futsala çok farklı bakıyor. Dünyada da Brezilya, Arjantin gibi ülkeler futsalı çok önemsiyor. Messi, Ronoldinho gibi üst düzey oyuncuların hep futsal geçmişi var. Futbolcu için çok faydalı. Çünkü sürekli topla temas halindesin. Erken yaşta başlanırsa teknik anlamda kapasiteyi arttırıyor. Ben göreve geldiğimde Ümit Davala'yı, Altan Aksoy'u, Murat Duman'ı Millî Takım'da oynattım ama onlara ters geldi.