Orkun Kökçü

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Orkun Kökçü
Kökçü playing for Turkey in 2024
Personal information
Date of birth (2000-12-29) 29 December 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Haarlem, Netherlands[1]
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Benfica
Number 10
Youth career
2007–2009 Olympia Haarlem
2009–2010 EDO
2010–2011 Stormvogels
2011–2014 Groningen
2014–2018 Feyenoord
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2023 Feyenoord 119 (23)
2023– Benfica 54 (13)
International career‡
2017–2018 Netherlands U18 5 (2)
2018–2019 Netherlands U19 7 (2)
2019 Turkey U21 2 (0)
2020– Turkey 39 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:59, 6 April 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:11, 20 March 2025 (UTC)

Orkun Kökçü (Turkish pronunciation: [oɾˈkun ˈkœktʃy]; born 29 December 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Benfica. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Turkey national team.

Club career

Feyenoord

A youth product of FC Groningen, where he arrived after having played for local clubs around his hometown Haarlem,[2] Kökçü joined the Feyenoord youth academy in 2014.[3] He made his debut for Feyenoord at the age of 17 in a 4–0 win over VV Gemert in the first round of the KNVB Cup on 17 September 2018, scoring Feyenoord's second goal.[4] He made his Eredivisie debut against FC Emmen on 9 December 2018,[5] and contributed with a goal and an assist after coming on as a substitute.[6] On 10 April 2019, he extended his contract at Feyenoord until 2023.[7] On 26 June 2020, he reached an agreement to extend his contract with Feyenoord for another two years, a deal to the end of the 2024–25 season.[8]

Following Jens Toornstra's departure, Feyenoord head coach Arne Slot chose Kökçü as his club captain on 2 September 2022.[9] With Kökçü as captain, Feyenoord went on to win the 2022–23 Eredivisie.[10]

Benfica

On 10 June 2023, Kökçü joined Benfica on a five-year deal for a reported fee of €25 million, plus €5 million in variables.[11] The sum represented a record signing for the Portuguese club and the league surpassing Darwin Núñez transfer from Almería to Benfica in 2020 for transfer fee of €24 million and a club record sale for Feyenoord becoming the club's biggest sale since Kökçu's former Feyenoord teammate Luis Sinisterra's transfer to Leeds United in 2022 for a fee of €25 million.[12]

Kökçü made his debut for Benfica in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, starting in a 2–0 win over rivals FC Porto.[13] He scored his first goal on 2 September, netting Benfica's third goal in a 4–0 home win over Vitória de Guimarães.[14] Kökçü made his UEFA Champions League debut on 20 September, starting in a 2–0 home loss to Red Bull Salzburg.[15]

International career

Kökçü was a youth international for the Netherlands, having represented the Netherlands U18s,[16] and Netherlands U19s.[17] In July 2019 Kökçü announced the intent to play for the Turkey national team.[18] He represented the Turkey U21s in a 3–2 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification loss to the England U21s on 6 September 2019.[19]

He made his Turkey national team debut on 6 September 2020 in a Nations League game against Serbia, he started the game and played the first hour of the 0–0 away draw.[20]

Personal life

Born in the Netherlands, Kökçü is of Turkish descent.[21] He is the younger brother of the professional footballer Ozan Kökçü. He is a lifelong fan of Beşiktaş and in the future he wants to play for the club he's been supporting since childhood.[22]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 6 April 2025[23]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Feyenoord 2018–19 Eredivisie 11 3 1 1 — 0 0 — 12 4
2019–20[c] Eredivisie 22 2 4 0 — 9[d] 1 — 35 3
2020–21 Eredivisie 22 3 1 0 — 6[d] 1 2[e] 0 31 4
2021–22 Eredivisie 32 7 1 0 — 18[f] 2 — 51 9
2022–23 Eredivisie 32 8 4 1 — 10[d] 3 — 46 12
Total 119 23 11 2 — 43 7 2 0 175 32
Benfica 2023–24 Primeira Liga 27 7 4 0 2 0 9[g] 0 1[h] 0 43 7
2024–25 Primeira Liga 27 6 2 0 3 0 12[i] 4 0 0 44 10
Total 54 13 6 0 5 0 21 4 1 0 87 17
Career total 173 36 17 2 5 0 64 11 3 0 262 49
  1. ^ Includes KNVB Cup, Taça de Portugal
  2. ^ Includes Taça da Liga
  3. ^ Season curtailed due to COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands
  4. ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Appearances in Eredivisie European competition play-offs
  6. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  7. ^ Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League
  8. ^ Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
  9. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 20 March 2025[24]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Turkey 2020 2 0
2021 11 1
2022 5 0
2023 6 1
2024 14 0
2025 1 1
Total 39 3

Scores and results list Turkey's goal tally first.[24]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 16 November 2021 Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro 13  Montenegro 2–1 2–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 25 March 2023 Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia 19  Armenia 1–1 2–1 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
3 20 March 2025 Rams Park, Istanbul, Turkey 39  Hungary 1–0 3–1 2024–25 UEFA Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs

Honours

Feyenoord

Benfica

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Cookies op gelderlander.nl - gelderlander.nl". www.gelderlander.nl.
  2. ^ Gouka, Mikos (10 December 2018). "Kökcü is bij Feyenoord een debutant van een andere orde". De Stentor (in Dutch).
  3. ^ "The 50 Eredivisie U21 Stars To Watch 2018/19: Orkun Kokcu". Football Oranje. 8 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Kökcü geeft visitekaartje af bij Feyenoord-debuut: 'Ongelooflijk trots'". www.vi.nl.
  5. ^ "Emmen vs. Feyenoord - 9 December 2018". Soccerway.
  6. ^ "Cookies op gelderlander.nl – gelderlander.nl". www.gelderlander.nl.
  7. ^ "Kökcü na tekenmoment: 'Nu hoop ik op meer'". www.feyenoord.nl (in Dutch).
  8. ^ "Principeakkoord: nieuw contract bindt Kökcü tot 2025 aan Feyenoord" (in Dutch). Feyenoord. 26 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Warming-up: Slot benieuwd waar zijn selectie staat | Kökcü nieuwe Feyenoord-captain". NOS (in Dutch). 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Feyenoord verslaat Go Ahead en is na zes jaar weer kampioen van Nederland" [Feyenoord beats Go Ahead and is champions of the Netherlands after six years] (in Dutch). 14 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Kökcü é reforço do Benfica!" [Kökcü signs with Benfica!] (in Portuguese). S.L. Benfica. 10 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  12. ^ "Benfica oficializa contratação de Kökçü: os detalhes do negócio" [Benfica make Kökçü's signing official: the details of the deal] (in Portuguese). Record. 10 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  13. ^ "Benfica 2-0 FC Porto: A Musa que faltava a Schmidt para ganhar a Supertaça" [Benfica 2-0 FC Porto: The Musa that Schmidt lacked to win the Supercup]. SAPO Desporto (in European Portuguese). 9 August 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  14. ^ "Kokçu estreia-se a marcar pelo SL Benfica com fantástico golo" (in Portuguese). Bola na Rede. 2 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  15. ^ Delgado, André (20 September 2023). "Entrada em falso do Benfica na Champions face à derrota frente ao Salzburgo" [Benfica's false entry into the Champions League following the defeat against Salzburg]. SAPO Desporto (in European Portuguese).
  16. ^ "OnsOranje". onsoranje.nl.
  17. ^ "OnsOranje". onsoranje.nl.
  18. ^ "Kökçü opts for Turkey over Netherlands". Football Oranje. 21 July 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  19. ^ "Turkey U21 vs. England U21 – 6 September 2019 – Soccerway". Soccerway.
  20. ^ "Serbia v Turkey game report". UEFA. 6 September 2020.
  21. ^ Sporx (9 September 2014). "Hollanda'nin 10 numarasi bir TURK - Futbol". Sporx.
  22. ^ "Orkun Kökçü'den flaş Beşiktaş açıklaması! - Orta Çizgi - Beşiktaş Haberleri | Beşiktaş Transfer Haberleri".
  23. ^ Orkun Kökçü at Soccerway
  24. ^ a b "Orkun Kökçü". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  25. ^ "Soccerway Match Report". Soccerway. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  26. ^ "Taça da Liga pintada de vermelho e branco!" (in Portuguese). S.L. Benfica. 12 January 2025. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  27. ^ Vaza, Marco (9 August 2023). "Benfica soube mudar para ganhar a Supertaça". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  28. ^ "Orkun Kökcü, Fenna Kalma, Xavi Simons and Esmee Brugts are the big winners of the Eredivisie Awards". Eredivisie. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  29. ^ "Oussama Idrissi named as eredivisie player of the month". Eredivisie. 17 January 2020. Archived from the original on 30 May 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  30. ^ "Gravenberch uitgeroepen tot eredivisiespeler van de maand". Eredivisie. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  31. ^ "AZ breaks through the Ajax stronghold in the Eredivisie team of the month". Eredivisie. 28 January 2022.
  32. ^ "Ajax provides most players for team of the month February". Eredivisie. 4 March 2022.
  33. ^ "Bruma named Eredivisie player of the month, Ali Akman receives first official Johan Cruyff talent of the mont award and XI of the month". Eredivisie. 10 September 2021.
  34. ^ "Ajax still provides most players for team of the month". Eredivisie. 14 January 2022.
  35. ^ "AZ breaks through the Ajax stronghold in the Eredivisie team of the month". Eredivisie. 28 January 2022.
  36. ^ "Ajax provides most players for team of the month February". Eredivisie. 4 March 2022.
  37. ^ "8 clubs provide players for Eredivisie team of the month in April". Eredivisie. 6 May 2022.
  38. ^ "Cody Gakpo is the Eredivisie Player of the Month for the second month running". Eredivisie. 4 November 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  39. ^ "Taylor Booth named as Eredivisie Player of the Month for November". Eredivisie. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  40. ^ "Sparta and AZ dominate Eredivisie team of the month in march". Eredivisie. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  41. ^ "Eight clubs represent the Eredivisie Team of the Month for April". Eredivisie. 5 May 2023. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  42. ^ "Kökcü garante prémio Golo do Mês na Liga Portugal Betclic" [Kökcü guarantees Goal of the Month award in Liga Portugal Betclic] (in Portuguese). Liga Portugal. 13 October 2023.